India: The Congress in Karnataka has surrendered to identity politics this election season

In Karnataka, the Congress has waded into the murky waters of identity politics. On Monday, the Siddaramaiah-led government accepted a proposal to recognise the Lingayat commnity as a separate religion. Just how explosive this move could be became evident hours later, as clashes broke out between members of the Veerashaiva and Lingayat communities in Kalaburagi city. Given that the Karnataka assembly elections are less than two month away, it seems to be a fairly blatant move to corner an influential votebank that has traditionally gone with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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https://scroll.in/article/872613/the-daily-fix-the-congress-in-karnataka-has-surrendered-to-identity-politics-this-election-season