05-08-2025
Priyank Kharge, Sharan Prakash Patil accused of ignoring demands of Ediga community
National president of the Arya Ediga Kendra Samiti and Peethadhipathi of Brahmashree Narayana Guru Shakti Peetha at Kardal village in Kalaburagi district Pranavananda Swami has urged Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge to lead a delegation of Ediga community leaders to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging him to consider the long-pending demands of the community.
Addressing presspersons in Kalaburagi on Monday, the swamiji recalled that Mr. Kharge and Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil visited the community's protest venue and expressed their solidarity when he launched an indefinite hunger strike in Kalaburagi in 2022 demanding the then BJP government to fulfill their demands. But now both Mr. Kharge and Dr. Patil have turned a deaf ear to the community's long-pending demands, he said.
Their demands included lifting a ban on toddy tapping, providing two acres of land for cultivation to each Ediga family, allocating ₹500 crore funds to the Brahmashree Narayana Guru Corporation for the welfare of Ediga and Billava communities, installation of a Sri Narayana Guru statue in front of the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, establishment of study centres in the names of Sri Narayana Guru and Hendada Marayya in the Gulbarga University and also celebrating the birth anniversary of 12th century social reformer Hendada Marayya as a State function.
Accusing the Siddaramaiah-led State government of discriminating against the community by inducting only one legislator belonging to the Ediga community into the Cabinet, the seer demanded that the State government induct one more legislator from the community into the Cabinet. If the State government continues to neglect the demands of the Ediga community, prominent leaders from the community will float a new political party in the State, he said.
Advice to youths
Accusing political parties of misusing youths as tools of violence in the name of caste and religion to disrupt peace in society, the swamiji appealed to the youths of Ediga community to stay away from such harmful influences. He urged the youths of Ediga community to follow the ideologies of Sri Narayana Guru and contribute to society's progress.
