Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the high-profile Siddaganga math in Tumkur last week—which is identified with the Lingayat community— seems to have stirred a hornet’s nest in the party.
Reason: Former Kannada and culture minister Rani Satish allegedly cornered all the glory for herself by singlehandedly organising the event leaving other Lingayat leaders in the party red-faced. Ms Satish, who is the KPCC vice-president, successfully lobbied on the math’s behalf to get Mrs Gandhi visit the Tumkur math for the Guruvandana programme.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, sources close to the math said Ms Satish had confided to them that Lingayat leaders were ‘troubling’ her as they felt she had managed to get closer to the party president than any of them with her successful management of the event. “I do not know why they are doing this. It was our decision to invite Mrs Gandhi to participate in the Guruvandana programme of our revered seer. This is not the first time someone from the Gandhi family was invited. Even her mother-in-law, former prime minister Indira Gandhi had taken part in a Math programme in 1975,” the source explained.
The source added that Lingayat leaders had started feeling that Ms Satish had let them down by not involving them in liaisoning with the AICC president’s office. “We must have met Mrs Gandhi a couple of times with the request. We also met AICC general secretary, Oscar Fernandes who helped us,” the source explained.