Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana has claimed that veteran Congress leader and All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha chief Shamanur Shivashankarappa has been misled on the issue of postings to Lingayat officials in the party’s government in the State.
Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Monday, Mr Lakshmana said Mr Shivashankarappa is a respected leader of the Congress party, but vested interests may have misled him over personal grouses. The Congress Government in the State does not discriminate against officials on the grounds of caste, he said.
Citing information sourced from the Chief Minister’s Office to prove that the Lingayat community officers too were occupying key posts, the KPCC spokesperson said there were a total of 40 Chief Engineers working in different departments of the State government. “Of them, 10 are Lingayats, 9 are Vokkaligas, 4 belong to the Kuruba community and others comprise the rest,” he said. Similarly, of the 41 universities in the State, Lingayats occupied the post of Vi-C in 14 of them while Brahmins occupy 8 and others the rest.
