When it was first announced in March, the move by the Congress government of Siddaramaiah to grant separate religion status to the Lingayats was touted as a bold masterstroke given that the community's vote can affect nearly 100 seats out of the 224 in the Assembly.
However, a glance at the results of counting in the Assembly elections show the Lingayat move may have backfired spectacularly. The BJP is leading in a majority of the Lingayat-dominated seats in the Hyderabad-Karnataka and central regions of the state. The BJP is leading in as many as 45 seats against just 14 for the Congress. The change is a spectacular contrast with the 2013 results when the Congress swept these seats, winning 47 seats against just five for the BJP.
The 2013 result in the Lingayat-dominated areas appears to be an aberration as Lingayats voted against the BJP for its treatment of B.S. Yeddyurappa and its poor governance record in that period.
Vinay Kulkarni, a Congress minister involved in the Lingayat agitation, is trailing in Dharwad while another Lingayat minister, Sharan Prakash Patil, is trailing in Sedam constituency.
The setbacks for its ministers and the results in the Lingayat-dominated seats show the Congress' stand on the issue has effectively backfired. The Lingayat vote seems to have stayed with the BJP, which had portrayed the separate religion attempt as an attempt to split the Hindu vote.