Lingayat seer Fakir Dingaleshwara Swami said he decided to withdraw his nomination based on advice from his guru.
Prominent Lingayat seer Fakir Dingaleshwara Swami withdrew his nomination from the Dharwad Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka on Monday. He had filed his nomination papers to take on Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is seeking a fifth term as MP.
Speaking to reporters, the seer said that leaders from both the BJP and the Congress had been in touch with him since he filed his papers to contest from the constituency. “Based on the advice from my guru, I have decided to withdraw,” he said.
Dingaleshwara said that he was not extending support to any party, adding that he would “continue to wage dharma yuddha (crusade) against injustice in the constituency.” The seer heads the Shirahatti and Balehosur Bhavaikyatha Sanstana Mutt.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, earlier in the day, had requested the seer to withdraw his nomination papers and urged him to support the Congress. “His mutt is famous for propagating secular principles,” the CM said.
Dingaleshwara earlier this month, alleging that in the 20 years that Joshi was MP, he was “a zero in development works, (but) a hero in subjugating other communities, (and) leaders.” He had accused the BJP of sidelining leaders from other prominent communities and alleged that Joshi was behind the move.
“Though nine Veerashaiva Lingayats were elected MPs from Karnataka (in 2019), none were made Cabinet ministers. They were only made Union Ministers of State,” he had said. Before he announced his candidature, the seer had dubbed Joshi as ‘anti-Lingayat’ and set a deadline till the end of March for the BJP leadership to nominate someone else in Dharwad in place of Joshi.
In Dharwad, Lingayats are considered a majority. BJP nominee Joshi is a Brahmin, whereas the Congress has fielded Anand Asuti, a member of the Kuruba community.
Voting will be held in Dharwad on May 7.