Latest news with #ShamanurShivashankarappa
New Indian Express
09-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Veerashaiva Mahasabha advice: Lingayats need to provide only name, number for survey
BENGALURU: The powerful Veerashaiva Mahasabha finds itself in a spot of discomfort as the government's contentious Scheduled Caste survey, led by a commission under Justice Nagamohan Das, gathers steam. The commission, which began collecting detailed data on May 5, has set off complaints of confusion, particularly among non-SC communities. Seeking to end the confusion, Mahasabha president and Davangere South MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa issued a statement, insisting that non-SC citizens, especially Lingayats, only need to provide the name of the family head and total number of family members. 'The list of 44 data points is meant for SC respondents,' he said. 'Citizens caught off-guard' With the Mahasabha ramping up its organizational strength, having held elections in over 150 taluks, Shivashankarappa issued a call to all 178 local units to spread the word that Lingayats are not required to disclose all details to enumerators. Mahasabha secretary Renuka Prasanna reported complaints pouring in from bewildered citizens caught off-guard by surveyors at their doorsteps. 'There is confusion. The commission must issue an immediate clarification,' he urged.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Central census will benefit Veerashaiva Lingayat Community: Cong MLA
Davanagere : Akhil Bharat Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha president and Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa said the central govt's caste census will be beneficial for the Veerashaiva Lingayat community . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Addressing a felicitation programme organised by the district unit of the Akhil Bharat Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha at SSM Hall in BIET College on Saturday, he criticised his own govt. He said the state govt is attempting to portray the Veerashaiva Lingayat community as a minority. "The census conducted by the central govt will help reveal our true numbers," he said. He further said there are over two crore Veerashaiva Lingayats in the state, but the state govt's caste census report claims the population is only 65 lakh. "The state govt is trying to show we are fewer in number to take away the govt benefits we receive. The Mahasabha will not allow this. We will bring all Veerashaiva Lingayats in the state together to demonstrate unity," Shamanur clarified. The senior Congress legislator said the central govt has announced it will conduct a caste census along with the population census. "It is said the central census will take another six months to a year. Meanwhile, the state govt seems to be in a hurry to implement the caste census report. The Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha and leaders of the Vokkaliga community have already held meetings and reached a consensus, and all leaders have agreed to the decisions made in the meeting," he added. Forest minister and national general secretary of the Mahasabha, Eshwar Khandre, said there is an ongoing unnecessary debate about Veerashaiva and Lingayat being different. "The Mahasabha has consistently maintained that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are not separate; they are the same. The community should remember that all who perform Linga worship are Lingayats," he said.
New Indian Express
26-04-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Caste survey 'flawed, fraudulent', claims Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha amid uproar over data gaps
BENGALURU: The caste survey report has sparked a storm across Karnataka, with the powerful Vokkaliga leaders meeting national chairman of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha Shamanur Shivashankarappa on Friday, and both communities unleashing a scathing attack on its credibility. Labelling the survey 'completely unscientific', Veerashaiva Mahasabha National Secretary HM Renuka Prasanna alleged massive under-reporting, data manipulation and inexplicable omissions that he claimed amount to nothing short of demographic erasure. '66 lakh is a joke,' said Prasanna, rejecting the official figure for the Veerashaiva-Lingayat population. 'Other commissions have clearly stated our population is between 1.3 crore and 1.4 crore. How did this number suddenly shrink to half? It is not just the Lingayats. Several caste populations seem grossly inflated or deflated beyond logic," Prasanna said. "Muslims and Kurubas have been shown to be 94% and 74% higher, while the population of Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Brahmins and Jains has mysteriously dwindled. 'Upper caste families showing just one child each? That's fiction,' he added. Even more baffling are discrepancies in subgroup counts. 'Only 2.5 lakh Sadar 2A Hindus,' Prasanna asked, insisting that this is off by a huge margin. 'There should be 67,000 in just one region. How can Davangere alone have 4-5 lakh and the total number can still be less,' he added. Nonabas from Tumakuru to Hubballi have been shown as a mere 1.5 lakh — a figure he stated as 'wildly inaccurate'. The massive Panchamasali sect, shown as 10 lakh across two heads, is allegedly missing 10 lakh people. A Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha member termed the exercise as political sidelining. 'Former chief ministers like S Nijalingappa, BD Jatti, Veerendra Patil, SR Kanti, JH Patel, and Jagdish Shettar — all Banajiga Lingayats — come from a community shown as just around 1 lakh, whereas they should easily number 10 lakh or more,' he said. Sub-sects like Reddy Lingayats, Ganiga Lingayats, Hande Wazir, Agasa, Hadpad, and Gowli Lingayats, have allegedly been sidelined or poorly counted. Even worse, 16 Lingayat sub-sects are entirely missing from the enumeration, raising red flags about the methodology of the survey. 'Meanwhile, Muslim data is perfect. Why? Because they ensured religion, caste, and sub-caste aligned properly during enumeration. We didn't get that chance.' he fumed. 'This survey is not just flawed — it's fraudulent. It's unscientific, inconsistent, and deeply damaging,' alleged Prasanna.
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Lingayat and Vokkaliga organisations to hold joint protest
A meeting of office-bearers of Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha and Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha on Friday decided to hold a joint protest against the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (caste census) report submitted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. The two dominant communities are unhappy with the population data that has been collected as part of the commission's survey in 2015. The survey report was submitted by K. Jayaprakash Hegde-led commission in 2024, but only the population figure of castes, recommendation for reclassification of castes and procedures adopted in collection of data, among others, have been released to Ministers so far. The issue is likely to come up for discussion on May 2 when the State Cabinet will meet. The representatives of two community organisations met nearly after a decade. Mahasabha national president Shamanur Shivashankarappa was present. According to mahasabha secretary H.M. Renuka Prasanna, while a joint protest is being planned, discussion on legal challenges that they could mount against the survey was also part of the meeting. 'Joint strategies to be adopted to oppose the survey report were discussed along with ways elected representatives could be roped in. The date of protest is yet to be decided.'
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Lingayat, Vokkaliga outfits in Karnataka to fight jointly against caste census
Bengaluru: In a rare display of unity, the apex bodies representing Karnataka's dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities—All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha (AIVM) and Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha—are preparing to join forces against the state govt's socio-economic and educational survey, which they allege has projected a reduced population of both castes. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The two groups are set to meet Thursday in Bengaluru to finalise a joint action committee that will lead the resistance against the caste census. Mahasabha general secretary Renuka Prasanna said the Lingayat group will be represented by senior Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Prasanna also revealed that AIVM is planning to conduct its own independent caste survey. "Considering that a majority of our community members are farmers, the only possible time to get them to participate in the survey is Dec," he said, adding that the Mahasabha is developing software to carry out the private exercise. While these communities have traditionally been seen as political rivals, insiders say a consensus to collaborate has been reached "in principle." We already had three rounds of talks at the office bearers' level and agreed to join hands. However, the joint action committee for opposing the survey report has to be finalised only when the bodies' presidents meet," said an AIVM office-bearer. If everything goes according to the plan, the proposed joint action will make a three-pronged approach: First, lobbying with ministers from their communities in CM Siddaramaiah's cabinet to oppose the release of the survey findings; second, launching coordinated protests across the state if pro-census groups push for its implementation through the Congress high command; and third, preparing a joint legal petition to challenge the survey, if necessary. The Lingayat leadership is also reportedly engaging with other communities discontented by the survey in an attempt to broaden the coalition. "The Lingayats are also reaching out to 'other' communities unhappy with the census report and are trying to woo them into the joint action committee," a source said.
