Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has formed a seven-member expert committee to look into the demand for minority tag for the Lingayat community. Sources say that chances of the Lingayat community getting the minority tag before the upcoming polls is quite bright.

This clearly has sparked a debate between the CM’s detractors who claim that the Constitution does not have provision for creation of new religion and his supporters who say that the Karnataka State Minorities Commission Act 1994 allows the government to accord minority status to any community within Karnataka.

Meanwhile, the committee, headed by retired high court judge Justice H N Nagmohan Das, may have its first meeting on January 6 or 8. The other members are former chairman of Karnataka Backward Classes Commission CS Dwarakanath, political scientist Muzaffar Assadi, head of Kannada chair at JNU Purushottam Bilimale, Kannada development authority chairman SG Siddaramaiah and journalist Sarjoo Katkar.

The committee will study the five representations received by KSMC. While three representations demand separate minority religion for Lingayats, one argues the community members are Hindus and the other by Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha demands minority religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat, reports TOI. The committee has been given four weeks to submit its report to KSMC.