Seers of various mutts and heads of religious outfits seem to be playing a very active role in formulation of policies and laws in the state. In fact, much more than legislators in the state, it appears. In the latest instance, about 50 seers and leaders of various religious outfits met Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at the latter’s residence on Friday to press their demand for enacting an anti-conversion law by the BJP Government. Seers argued that anti-conversion law was the “need of the hour” to stop what they called “large-scale conversions of Hindus” to other religions by offering inducements. They claimed that the number of churches had increased and many Hindus had been converted into Christianity. They even urged Mr. Bommai to stop providing government benefits under various schemes to people who converted to other religious faiths. The Chief Minister assured the seers that existing laws in other states will be studied before enactment of a law here, which will stand the test of judicial scrutiny.
Lessons in hygiene
Minister for Excise K. Gopalaiah, who paid a surprise visit to a government first grade college in his Mahalaxmi Layout constituency, was in for a surprise. For, despite all the talk on hygiene post the pandemic, all he saw was dust on desks and benches and waste material in classrooms. Educational institutions, shut during the height of the pandemic, have reopened after a long break in Karnataka.
The Minister took the college principal and other staff members to task for their irresponsibility in maintaining cleanliness in classrooms. College staff do not utilise funds meant for maintaining hygiene on the campus, he said, and warned the staff of disciplinary action if they continued to neglect cleanliness.
Loyalty test
Balachandra Jarkiholi, BJP MLA and KMF chairperson, made a cryptic speech and kept his audience guessing when he kicked off the campaign for the Legislative Council polls recently. He addressed gram panchayat members in a hall near his home in Gokak, when the BJP was yet to announce its candidates. “The party is yet to nominate candidates, but I request you to support the party. I also request you to support our organisation’s candidates,” he said. However, it raised a few questions. What did he mean by “our organisation”? Was it the party or KMF or the GP members association or the Nayak Students Federation that he is an office-bearer of or the Sahukar Sene, the Gokak-based association of the “fans” of the Jarkiholi family? The answer depends on whom you ask. Party workers from Gokak swear he meant only the BJP. The reason he mentioned it separately was to emphasise the Gokak-Arabavi unit of the party, they say. Milk union members in the villages say he pointed to them, as several of them are GP members. NSF volunteers say Mr. Balachandra always refers to them as “his organisation”. The Sahukar Sene members also say it was obvious that he was referring to them. One supporter insisted that loyalty in the family’s case went beyond party. “If he [Balachandra] were to shift his loyalties to the Congress or the JD(S) tomorrow, his followers will move with him. That is why he mentioned it separately to emphasise that his supporters should work for the BJP candidates,” he said.
Nagesh Prabhu
Rishikesh Bahadur Desai
