The programme organised to mark the renaming of Hyderabad Karnataka as ‘Kalyana Karnataka’ and to celebrate its liberation day on Tuesday provided a platform for seers of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community to rally behind Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and threaten a street fight if there is any effort to destabilise him.
This comes at a time when there is a growing sense that the Lingayat strongman is not too comfortable on the saddle and the party high command is not well-disposed towards him.
The programme, organised in Kalaburagi, was the first liberation day programme after the region was renamed by the BJP government. It saw him being flanked by seers, mostly from the Lingayat-Veerashaiva community. The region’s liberation day is celebrated to mark its unification under the Indian union on September 17, 1948, after years of being ruled by the Nizams.
Shivamurthy Swamy of Devapur Mutt, in his opening remarks, warned against any attempt to depose Mr. Yediyurappa from the Chief Minister’s post by stating that the heads of all the mutts in the State would “take to the streets” to defeat such attempts.
Basavalinga Pattadadevaru, the head of Bhalki Mutt, endorsed this and said, “The previous government had drawn up a plan to develop Anubhava Mantapa in town at a cost of ₹650 crore, but the money was not released. Now, Mr. Yediyurappa has become Chief Minister again and I hope the project will be implemented.”
Right on cue, addressing a public meeting after officially declaring the change in name of the region (which comprises Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, and Ballari), the Chief Minister promised to usher in “Sharana culture” as well as developme ntal works in the northern districts of Karnataka. He also announced a grant of ₹50 crore and a 20-acre plot for building Anubhava Mantapa in honour of Veerashaiva sharanas (saints).
Among the slew of other announcements made by him were a grant of ₹3 crore for the construction of a Veerashaiva hostel in the city and the opening of the Kalaburagi airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for commercial operations.
