Some Lingayat Panchamasali leaders stage a protest in Belagavi on Friday against the former Minister and BJP leader Murugesh Nirani’s statement questioning the caste of Mrinal Hebbalkar, Congress candidate from Belagavi.
Mr, Nirani had said that Mrinal Hebbalkar was not a Panchamasali leader as his father Ravindra Hebbalkar was a Banajiga, while his mother and Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar was born in a Panchamasali family.
They took out a mock funeral procession of the former Minister in an effigy, slapped his images with slippers and shouted slogans against him.
They said that Mr. Nirani was making insulting remarks against Ms. Hebbalkar and Mrinal Hebbalkar. They threatened to intensify the agitation against him if he did not stop it.
A community leader R.K. Patil asked Mr. Nirani not to disrupt the campaign of Mrinal Hebbalkar by making baseless remarks about his caste. Ms. Hebbalkar is a senior leader of the community. “She has led our agitation for reservation and we have accepted her. Her son is also our community leader. We will not tolerate any ill intentioned campaign against him,” Mr. Patil said.
He said that Mr. Nirani has impressed upon the former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai not to include Panchamasali community among 2A category. He challenged him to swear before Lord Manjunatheshwara in Dharmasthala and deny this allegation.
