Bengaluru: Minister of Public Works Department C. C. Patil has slammed Lingayat seer Dingaleshwara Swami, who claimed that government officials wanted a 30 per cent cut in mutt grants.

Minister Patil dismissed the seer’s claims, claiming that the seer is facing three criminal charges and that he made the allegations because he was unhappy that another mutt received a government grant. Speaking to mediapersons he said that the swamiji made this allegation as he was envious of the Rs. 202 Crore given to Gadag’s Tontadarya Math.

Patil also alleged that the seer resorted to goondaism to become the successor to the Moorusavira mutt in Hubbali.

He went on to say that the swami should come out and say who asked for a bribe and whether or not a bribe was paid. He further claimed that the seer’s statements had harmed the mutt’s dignity.

Dingaleshwar Swamiji of the Balehosur Mutt in the Shirahatti taluk remarked that mutts (monasteries) are also affected by Karnataka’s rampant corruption because they pay a 30 per cent commission to have sanctioned grants issued for them. Following his remark, Andola Mutt’s Siddalinga Swamiji said that corruption and a 30 per cent commission arrangement have existed in Karnataka during the Congress’s tenure, when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister.