Bangalore:

Renowned Veerashaiva Lingayat seer and Fakira Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakkireshwar Math on Monday said he has decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Dharwad district.

He has repeatedly targeted the division’s BJP candidate and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, accusing him of “suppressing” Veerashaiva-Lingayat and other communities, and misuse Lingayat mathematics and cause disrespect towards them to remain in power.

“I have declared my candidacy as an independent candidate from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency. As you know, national political parties have announced their candidates and people in Dharwad constituency and nearby areas feel that both parties have entered into election rigging like match-fixing ”, claims Dingaleshwar Swami.

Reacting to his decision, Mr Joshi said: “Dingaleshwar Swamy had no reaction… whatever he said, it was a blessing to me.”

The seer also accused the Congress party of neglecting the Lingayats after coming to power and not providing suitable posts to capable leaders of the community.

Addressing reporters here, he accused both national parties of betraying the people of Dharwad constituency.

“While both political parties fielded their respective candidates, the voters of Dharwad decided to field me as their candidate. This is the ‘Dharma Yuddha’ claimed by those who cherish their dignity and ‘Kaavidhaaris’ against both National parties and selfish politicians,” Swamy said, adding that he entered politics to create political awareness among people.

“There should be no politics in ‘dharma’, there should be ‘dharma’ in politics – this is the desire of the people and I will continue to do so even after the polls,” he said, adding that his “Dharma Yuddha “Will continue. Continue to support oppressed communities and their leaders until the end of their lives.

Some seers from Dharwad region, especially those from the Lingayat community, held a meeting in Hubali on March 27 under the leadership of Dingaleshwar Swami and demanded that India The central leadership of the BJP has replaced the party’s Dharwad Lok Sabha candidate Prahlad Joshi. They gave the party until March 31 to make a decision.

It was decided in that meeting that “like the North”, Swamijis in the South should also work in the political field and contest elections.

Lingayats are said to form a majority among some voters in Dharwad, while Joshi, a four-time MP, is a Brahmin.

Targeting Mr Joshi, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, the prophet on Monday claimed: “Joshi is a hero when it comes to oppressing leaders of other communities but when it comes to development, he is zero and that is the reason for my election.”

He asked what Mr Joshi had done for the constituency and the state during his 20 years as an MP.

Mr Joshi has maintained that he will regard the seer’s comments as a blessing and will try to clear up misunderstandings, if any, in the coming days, while senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa (Lingayat’s Strong supporter) made it clear that there was no question of replacing Mr. Joshi.

When asked about the questions directed at the Prophet by his well-wishers and supporters, Mr Joshi said: “I don’t have any comment, social media is an open platform and people there have made comments in support of us and against us Comment. I am a party candidate and I will.” No comment on such things. ” Karnataka is conducting the Lok Sabha polls in two phases and the second phase of polling will be held on May 7 for Dharwad.

Swamy claimed that the BJP was not releasing tickets to various communities such as Kurumba, Reddy, Ambigas and Lambanis, and pointed out that KE Kantesh, son of veteran BJP leader KS Eshwarappa, was also denied release by Haveli Ticket, he was “betrayed”. “I warned Eshwarappa not to trust Josh.”

He claimed that the BJP denied a chance to the leaders of several large communities to contest elections but gave three tickets to the leaders of communities with very small population (Brahmin-Pralhad Joshi, Special Advocate) Tejasvi Surya – Bangalore South and Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri-Uttara Kannada and asked: “Society Where is the justice?”

However, he claimed that he was not anti-Brahminical and said some people from Mr Joshi’s community had contacted him to express support.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)