Cong counts political dividends after 2 key Lingayat leaders join

As the Congress counts political dividends after two BJP leaders from the dominant Lingayat community joined it, ahead of May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, the ruling party has sought to down play the desertion and project their move as mere “betrayal”. Lingayats, who constitute about 17 per cent of the state’s population largely concentrated in the State’s northern districts, form the strong vote base of the BJP. The Congress has been making attempts to break the Lingayat vote bank of the BJP for sometime now, by trying to project that the party has ill-treated the community by sidelining its veteran leader and Lingayat strong man B S Yediyurappa, after using him for its advantage. Now with senior leaders Jagadish Shettar (former CM) and Laxman Savadi (former Deputy CM) switching to its side, the Congress is planning to push this narrative further, hoping to create a perception against BJP in the minds of Lingayats.