Criticism seems to be growing within the ruling Congress over veteran party leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa’s allegation that Lingayat bureaucrats are getting a “raw deal” in postings, with one more party leader publicly expressing disappointment and pain over the remark.
Congress MLC and AICC member Prakash K. Rathod, in a release, maintained that the tendency of speaking only about one’s own community by forgetting the interests of other communities like minorities, Dalits, and OBCs, who rallied behind the party in the recent Assembly elections, has pained those communities.
He said Mr. Shivashankarappa would have earned more respect if he had spoken about the need to give political importance to all communities instead of raising concern only about his own community.
Game of numbers
Mr. Rathod claimed that a survey had indicated that only 20% of Lingayats had supported the Congress as against 80% of Muslims who had backed the party. But still the party government had accommodated seven Lingayats in the Ministry and only two Muslims had been given ministerial berths.
Similarly, none from the Lambani community had been accommodated in the Ministry, though 80% of its population had backed the party in the polls, he claimed. Same was the case with small communities like Uppara, Balijiga, and Yadava who had not got representation in the Ministry despite backing the party in a big way, he said.
Despite missing out on ministerial representation, these communities had conducted themselves in a disciplined manner by making representation to the party leaders and the Chief Minister, Mr. Rathod said.
Support of all
Criticising Mr. Shivashankarappa for his remarks that Lingayat officials were not being considered for important posts, he pointed out that the veteran leader himself had said many a time that it would not have been possible for him to get elected to the Assembly seven times without the support of other communities.
Pointing out that bringing Dalits, OBCs, and minorities into the mainstream by providing suitable representation to them has been the declared stand of the Congress, he asked Mr. Shivashankarappa not to speak anything that would result in deviating from this ideological position.