Lingayat Panchamasali seer Sri Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami addressing a press conference in Hubballi on Thursday. | Photo Credit: KIRAN BAKALE

In a bid to exert pressure on Lingayat Panchamasali legislators in the State to raise their voice in the legislature for inclusion of the Panchamasali community under 2A category, Lingayat Panchamasali Mahasabha will launch a letter campaign in front of the residences of MLAs Arvind Bellad and M.R. Patil in Hubballi on Saturday.

Addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Thursday, seer of Lingayat Panchamasali Peetha of Koodalasangama Sri Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami said that the letter campaign is part of the movement to seek inclusion of the community under 2A category.

The seer said that to begin with, the letter campaign will be launched in front of the residence of Kundgol MLA M.R. Patil at Manjunath Nagar Cross in Hubballi at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

At noon on the same day, the letter campaign will be organised in front of the residence of Hubballi Dharwad West MLA and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Arvind Bellad near Akshay Park.

The seer clarified that the objective of the agitation through the letter campaign is to highlight their demand and to prevail upon the Panchamasali legislators to raise their voice in support of the community’s demand in the forthcoming monsoon session of the Legislature.

He said that the letter campaign was already organised in front of the residence of Dharwad MLA Vinay Kulkarni on Wednesday.

“We plan to hold the letter campaign in Belagavi district on July 8, in Bagalkot district on July 9, in Shivamogga and Gadag on July 10, in Kalaburagi on July 11 and in Vijayapura district on July 12,” he said.

To a query, the seer said that during the previous phases of the agitation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had assured that after the elections, he will consult legal experts on the issue.

However, till date no effort has been made by the State government on seeking legal opinion and so, the mahasabha has been forced to resume the agitation, he said.

He clarified that their demand for reservation is not for politics but for ensuring help to the community’s children in education and employment.

‘Not our work’

Replying to a query on Vokkaliga seer’s demand for Chief Ministership for D.K. Shivakumar, the seer said that demanding that a particular leader be made the Chief Minister is not the work of swamijis.

“Electing a Chief Minister is the job of the ruling party legislators. If sought, an advice can be given as religious head of the community,” he said.

Clarifying further on the issue, he said that post the padayatra by the Panchamasali community, he stopped seeking Ministerial berths for the community leaders.

“Our goal is now only to get 2A reservation for the community,” he said.