The forced exit of B.S. Yediyurappa from the Karnataka chief minister’s post has come back to haunt the BJP with Lingayat seers demanding that Union minister Pralhad Joshi, a Brahmin, be replaced in the Dharwad constituency.
A number of seers from the influential Lingayat community on Wednesday met in Hubballi, some 400km from here, against the BJP’s decision to field Joshi from Dharwad. Their contention was that Joshi, a Brahmin, had ill-treated Lingayat seers and the community, besides playing a leading role in the ouster of Yediyurappa in July 2021.
Apart from BJP national general secretary B.L. Santosh, Joshi was widely seen as among those who worked behind the scenes to force Yediyurappa, a Lingayat, to resign in July 2021.
The seers led by Dingaleshwar Swami of Shrihatti Fakkireshwar Mutt have demanded that Joshi be replaced before Sunday. “We will meet again on April 2 to decide our next course of action if he is not replaced by Sunday,” the seer told reporters in Hubballi.
But Yediyurappa, whose younger son Vijayendra Yediyurappa is the state BJP president, put his foot down and ruled out heeding the seers’ demand. “Pralhad Joshi has no role in that (the forced exit),” Vijayendra told reporters, adding that there was no question of replacing the Dharwad candidate.
The most influential Lingayat politician in the state, Yediyurappa said he would try to pacify the pontiffs who have supported him throughout his political career.
“The seers have been with the BJP for long and I will talk to them to clear their misunderstanding (about Joshi working against them),” he said.
The 81-year-old leader who has retired from elections has left his stamp on the selection of candidates this time.
Joshi was mum on the allegations made by the Lingayat seers, but said he would “seek their blessings”.
Yediyurappa had led the infamous Operation Kamala in 2019 to bring down the Janata Dal Secular-Congress coalition government helmed by H.D. Kumaraswamy. He spearheaded the poaching operation that netted 17 lawmakers.
