TV9 Exclusive : Sonia Gandhi Felicitate Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji At 'Guruvandana Mahotsava' - 16.............., Political alchemy demands a seer to neutralise former Karnataka chief minister and BJP strongman BS Yeddyurappa's clout over the powerful Lingayat community in the southern state. That's precisely what Congress president Sonia Gandhi has decided to do to win back the Lingayats from Yeddyurappa. She will meet Sri Sri Shivakumara Swami, the seer of the influential Sri Siddaganga Mutt (shrine), and felicitate him in the community's stronghold of Tumkur. The Lingayats were historically loyal to the Congress until the party high command unceremoniously ousted then Congress chief minister Veerendra Patil in 1990. Frowning at the decision, the Lingayats shifted their allegiance to the BJP, especially Yeddyurappa, who belongs to the community. The seer has a substantial following among the Lingayats, who constitute 21 per cent of the state's population. Sonia's ! move, after all these years of so-called neglect of the community, couldn't have come at a better time. Her first visit to Karnataka in recent years has been strategically timed as the state's BJP government struggles to fight off the intense turf war between Yeddyurappa and his detractors. The BJP leader has been shooting deadlines to the party to reinstate him as chief minister or else he would break ranks and float his own party. The BJP has been forced into a huddle over whether to placate the ...
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