Row Over Siddaramaiah's 'Corrupt Lingayat Chief Minister' Jab At B Bommai

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has got himself into hot water for his jibe at the BJP's Lingayat push for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. When asked about the BJP's stance that a Lingayat should be the next Chief Minister, the Congress veteran said, "There's already a Lingayat Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai). He's the root of all the corruption in the state".

The BJP was quick to launch a scathing attack against Siddaramaiah, saying he had insulted the entire Lingayat community. 

Mr Bommai accused him of ridiculing the entire Lingayat community, though Siddaramaiah later clarified that his comment was aimed specifically at the Chief Minister.

"It is not right for a former Chief Minister to make a statement like this. He has stated that the entire Lingayat community is corrupt. The Brahmin community had been ridiculed in the past. Earlier, he had tried to break the Lingayat-Veerashaiva community when he was the Chief Minister. The people of the state will teach Siddaramaiah a lesson," Mr Bommai said.

Siddaramaiah said there have been several honest Lingayat Chief Ministers who he respects, and the BJP has "twisted and misinterpreted" his remark.

"My comments referred only to Bommai. I only said Basavaraj Bommai alone is corrupt. I did not say Lingayats are corrupt. Therefore, making such a sweeping report is inappropriate. There have been very honest Lingayat chief ministers. There was S Nijalingappa, Virendra Patil and others for whom I have a lot of respect as they were very honest chief ministers. My comments have been twisted and misinterpreted by the BJP," he said.

Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who recently joined Congress after quitting the BJP as he was denied a ticket, had said that many Lingayat leaders have left the BJP. A Lingayat leader himself, Mr Shettar said the BJP's Lingayat pitch would not work in their favour and people will not believe their statement.

"Why have they started it now? Why did they not do so earlier? BJP is doing it only for election purposes, people will not believe in their campaign even if they declare a Lingayat CM," Mr Shettar said on Saturday.

Siddaramaiah had on Wednesday filed his nomination from the Varuna constituency for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, and reiterated that this would be his last election and virtually laid out a "succession plan" of sorts.

The 75-year-old Leader of the Opposition indicated his son and grandson to be his political successors. "This is my last election, after that, there is Yathindra (son), Dhawan Rakesh (grandson)...", he said.

Siddaramaiah's younger son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah is the sitting Congress MLA from Varuna.

The last day for filing of nominations is April 20. Voting will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes will be on May 13.