Ramesh Jarkiholi and Basanagouda Patil Yatnal
| Photo Credit: File Photo

Even before the dust raised by the expulsion of self-proclaimed ‘Hindu tiger’ Basanagouda Patil Yatnal from dissidence-ridden Karnataka unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could settle, the rift slowly seems to be turning into a fight for the ‘real Lingayat leader’ tag.

On Tuesday, Ramesh Jarkiholi, former Minister and BJP MLA, announced that supporters of Mr. Yatnal would seek the support of religious leaders, mainly of Lingayat sects, to urge the BJP to withdraw his expulsion from the party. Mr. Jarkiholi is part of the camp, along with Mr. Yatnal, opposed to BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra.

“I am confident that Mr. Yatnal’s expulsion will be cancelled and he will be re-admitted. He will not form a new party,” Mr. Jarkiholi told reporters in Belagavi. Mr. Yatnal had earlier hinted that he might be toying with the idea of forming a new party.

“A team of leaders, including Mr. Yatnal, will visit Lingayat mutts, while another team, including me, Arvind Limbavali, and Kumar Bangarappa, will visit SC/ST and OBC community mutts,” he said. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting in Bengaluru, he added. The leaders had advised Mr. Yatnal not to criticise any BJP leader, said Mr. Jarkiholi.

Plans on convention

It may be recalled that in March, former Minister M.P. Renukacharya had made an announcement on holding a convention of all sub sects of Veerashaiva–Lingayat community in support of Mr. Vijayendra in Davanagere. He had even announced that the objective of the convention would be to make Mr. Vijayendra the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. He had said that Mr. Yatnal was making futile efforts to project himself a Veerashaiva Lingayat leader. He had ridiculed Mr. Yatnal for donning the roles of ‘Hindu Huli’, ‘Veerashaiva Lingayat leader’ or ‘Panchamasali leader’ based on circumstances.

To counter it, days later, the Yatnal faction had come out with announcement on holding a Hindu convention in Davanagere itself. Although both the conventions did not materialise, post expulsion, the Yatnal camp is making efforts to project it as “an injustice to a Lingayat leader”, particularly of the Panchamasali Lingayat community.

Lingayat Panchamasali seer Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami has already given a call for the community members to stand in support of Mr. Yatnal. However, this has not gone down well with Panchamasali leaders like Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, who has already taken exception to it.