Congress leaders belonging to the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community have sought more tickets for its members considering “winnability” in over 70 of the 224 Assembly seats in the state elections later this year.

The Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders have sent a memorandum to AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, citing the clout of the community in 73 seats and the adverse factors plaguing the BJP that has angered the community.

“Our internal survey has shown that the Veerashaiva-Lingayats are influential in 73 constituencies. Based on this finding, we have sought 70 seats, a majority of them winnable under the present political circumstances and the anti-incumbency faced by the BJP government,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson and vice-chairman of its digital media wing, Anil Tadkal, told The Telegraph on Saturday.

Congress leaders from the community led by Davanagere South MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa held a meeting in Bangalore on Thursday to press for their demand to give at least 70 tickets to their candidates. Veerashaiva-Lingayat candidates had won in 17 of the 47 seats where the Congress fielded them in 2018.

“This is a good opportunity to win back the community with some good local candidates, which is why we are insisting on giving adequate representation to the Veerashaiva-Lingayats in the candidates’ list,” said Tadkal, who is also the chairman of the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha.

The larger community has been the backbone of the BJP since 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi unceremoniously removed the then chief minister, Veerendra Patil, by announcing his replacement to the media at Bangalore airport. Patil’s sidelining even after he won a landslide 179 of 224 seats — the biggest margin ever for the Congress in Karnataka — had cost the party dearly. Tadkal cited two crucial factors that would adversely impact the ruling BJP in this election.

“Firstly, the community is angry over the sidelining of B.S. Yediyurappa (still the top Lingayat leader). Secondly, the Panchamasali (a sub-sect) reservation issue is going to affect the BJP very badly.”

The BJP forced Yediyurappa to resign as chief minister in 2021 following immense pressure from a section of the party led by senior RSS leader and BJP national general secretary B.L. Santosh who wanted a change of leadership. After that, Yediyurappa had not even been invited to major events, causing much heartburn in the community.

While the BJP has since provided more visibility to Yediyurappa, mainly considering his clout over his community and its powerful pontiffs, Tadkal said internal surveys showed that a section of the Veerashaiva-Lingayats’ voters was ready to back the Congress.

The Panchamasali subsect of the Veerashaiva-Lingayats is peeved at not being considered for the 2A (15 per cent) reservation category instead of 3B (5 per cent quota) among OBCs.

“These factors will hurt the BJP and we should be ready to win the support of the breakaway voters from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community by providing good candidates in constituencies they dominate,” Tadkal said.

State Congress spokesperson M. Lakshman cited yet another favourable factor. “The BJP often says (chief minister Basavaraj) Bommai will lead the election. Then they bring (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi as their face, before saying again that Bommai and Yediyurappa would lead them. This has confused the electorate,” he told this newspaper on Saturday.

The Congress is also counting on the Panchamasalis as a winning factor as state president D.K. Shivakumar, Siddaramiah and Surjewala have been assigned to work out a formula for them. “We don’t want to make false promises like the BJP. But we are working on a formula (for reservation) that will surely be implemented once we come to power,” Lakshman said.

The Veerashaivas and the Lingayats are often hyphenated and seen as one larger community although there are subtle differences between them.

The majority of the Lingayats see themselves as members of a separate religion started by 12th-century social reformer and philosopher saint Basaveshwara, known as Basavanna, and follow the Vachanas as their religious scripture.

The much older Veerashaivism is a Shaivite sect that follows the Vedas.