Tumkur: State Water Sources Minister M B Patil and retired IAS officer S M Jamadara visited the Siddaganga Mutt here on Wednesday and carried a secret meeting with junior seer Shri Siddalinga Swamiji for more than 20 minutes.
Mediapersons were not allowed inside the room to cover the meeting. Later speaking to the reporters, Minister M P Patil said, “The younger seer of the Siddaganga Mutt has already welcomed the state government’s recommendation to the Central government for a separate religious status to Lingayat- Veerashaivas. We need seer’s guidance in this regard. We discussed all those issues today.”
Meanwhile, M B Patil criticised BJP President Amit Shah and said, “He is a Jain. The state government recommended the Central government to give religious status to Jains in 2007 and the Central government has declared it as a separate religion in 2014 itself. When he got separate religious status, why he is opposing Lingayat issue.”
When Hindu religion was not affected by formation of separate religions like Sikh, Buddhism, and Jain, how can it get affected by formation of new Lingayat religion, he questioned.
