Bengaluru, May 28 (DHNS): Jagathika Lingayat Mahasabha general secretary S M Jamadar on Sunday said the forum, if necessary, will exert pressure on the Centre to secure religious tag for Lingayat faith.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the Mahasabha, Jamadar denied that Lingayat issue had backfired resulting in the defeat of several sitting MLAs.

He said a membership drive of the forum at the district and taluk level will be continued from this week. The drive had been temporarily stopped in wake of the Assemby polls.

Jamadar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had mislead the people of the state during the election campaign by stating that getting a minority tag for Lingayat faith would mean dividing the Hindu religion.

“Lingayat faith has never been part of Hindu religion. The expert committee had taken all aspects into consideration before coming to its conclusion that a separate religion tag be accorded to Lingayat faith,” he pointed out.

He denied reports that the Mahasabha was now making it an election issue ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.