Rahul Gandhi to Visit Vokkaliga Mutt of the Gowdas

Congress president Rahul Gandhi along with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, party’s state unit president G Parameshwara and other leaders are scheduled to meet Sri Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt head Sri Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji at 8pm. This is a prominent Vokkaliga Mutt, a religious place of importance for the Gowdas. Meanwhile, Mate Mahadevi, the first female Lingayat seer, has called for the community to back Congress and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. Slamming Amit Shah, she accused the BJP chief of “lying and misleading people” and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce separate religion status by April 18, Basava Jayanti. Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah mocked Amit Shah over his ‘Modi flood’ remark, saying the saffron party president “forgot that floods are bad for farmers, Dalits and poor”