Tuesday was a day of a “temple run” for Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who had a packed schedule of visiting popular pilgrim centres in coastal and Malnad Karnataka in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Arriving at Dharmasthala late on Monday night, Mr. Shivakumar had the darshan of Lord Manjunatha and Annappa on Tuesday morning besides meeting Pattadhikari D. Veerendra Heggade.
Thereafter he proceeded to Kukke Subrahmanya by helicopter and had the darshan of Lord Subrahmanya and Hosaligamma. He went to Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru district later and had the darshan of Goddess Sharadamba and sought blessings from Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji.
Mr. Shivakumar’s next flight was to Kollur in Udupi district where he had the darshan of Goddess Mookambika in the afternoon. He travelled by road to Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district in the evening. Mr. Shivakumar would have the darshan of Lord Mahabaleshwara on Wednesday morning there before attending party workers’ meeting at Kumta and later, he would be in Mysuru, according to his tour programme.
Terming the ensuing Lok Sabha elections as ‘Dharma Yuddha’, Mr. Shivakumar told reporters in Dharmasthala, that “just as Lord Manjunatha keeps his word”, the Congress too has kept its word and implemented all the five guarantees made before the Assembly elections. The Shakti scheme has enabled thousands of women to visit pilgrim centres including Dharmasthala for free, he pointed out.
Other leaders
As temples and mutts are seen wielding enormous political power, politicians cutting across party-lines have been visiting places of worship and vying for the support of religious heads. While the Siddaganga mutt in Tumakuru district and other mutts have been successful in mobilising Veerashaiva-Lingayats for electoral purposes, the Adichunchanagiri mutt is seen as the authority of the Vokkaliga community.
In fact, even before the actual heat of the campaign, politicians have been rushing to temples. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa along with his family members, including his son and State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra, performed “Chandika Homa” at Annapoorneshwari temple at Horanadu in Chikkamagaluru district on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters after the “homa”, Mr Yediyurappa said it was conducted to seek blessings of the deity and bountiful rainfall in the State which has been facing severe drought. Mr. Vijayendra said religious rituals were performed to give more strength to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections.
