Loyalty Bonus At Ramachandrapura

Being a numerically small community, Havyaka Brahmins, who follow the Ramachandrapura math, have a minuscule political presence—Ramakrishna Hegde, Karnataka chief minister for most of the 1980s, was a Havyaka—barring in the Shimoga region of Karnataka. Many RSS pracharaks hailed from the community before the Sangh began widening its reach, according to one account. The RSS has a strong base in the state’s coastal districts and increasingly in the neighbouring Malnad region. This, however, has often been attributed to the local dynamics of the coastal belt which has a sizable population of Christians and Muslims as well, with all the communities having significant business interests.

Over the weekend, the pontiff of the influential Pejawar math in Udupi, Vishvesha Thirtha, spoke up in support of Raghaveshwara Bharati, saying that the seer could not be presumed guilty merely because a chargesheet was filed against him and that it was a matter for the courts to decide. On its part, the Havyaka Mahamandala, a representative entity, hit back at suggestions that the community was divided, saying that at least 31,000 Havyaka households recently participated in the ‘Deepa Kaanike’, an annual offering (while it isn’t mandatory, not making an offering is generally frowned upon).

The swami is believed to be close to a number of political leaders, borne out by the photographs on the math’s website and those getting circulated among his devotees. He is said to be close to former chief minister and current national vice-president of the BJP, B.S. Yediyurappa. And the website flaunts his pictures with Union ministers Ananth Kumar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP as well as with the present Congress chief minister. In fact, Sidda­ramaiah (who’s not religious-minded, by his own admission) is being accused of soft-pedalling the issue. The reluctance of his government to proceed against the swami could well be attributed to the fact that the numerically small but influential community of Havyaka Brahmins can sway the outcome in as many as 14 assembly seats; in the Siddaramaiah ministry, industries minister R.V. Deshpande’s constituency Haliyal has a pocket of Havyakas. The state’s home minister K.J. George, a Christian, took no action, apparently fearing a Hindu backlash.

By Ajay Sukumaran in Bangalore