Video Of Yediyurappa-Lingayat Seer's Public Spat Falsely Linked To CAA

A video showing Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa having a public spat on stage with Swami Vachananda, a Veerashaiva Lingayat Panchamasali seer, over the latter's push for cabinet posts for leaders from the community, is being falsely linked to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The 47-second clip, which shows Yediyurappa react angrily to something Swami Vachananda says in Kannada, is being shared with a misleading caption.

The clip is being shared with a caption in Hindi that translates to 'Karnataka chief minister got upset when the guru made anti-CAA remarks.'
The second half of the caption claims that the mainstream media did not air the clip.

(Translated from Hindi "कर्नाटक BJP के C.M के मंच से ही जब गुरु जी ने CAA का विरोध किया तो CM साहब भड़क उठे😜 ऐसी बे इज्जती आपने कभी नही देखी होगी दलाल मीडिया के चाटूकार पत्रकारो ने एक बार भी नही चलाया करो तो ज़रा फेमस गुरू जी को😂😂"

Click here for the tweet and here for the archive of the tweet

We found many social media accounts sharing the same video with the exact same text.

Click here for the Facebook post and here for the archive

FACT CHECK

Several Twitter users replied to the above tweet saying the clip was unrelated.

The incident took place earlier in January at an event held in Harihar in Davangere district hosted by the Panchamasali Samaj Gurupeeth, the News Minute reported.

Panchamasalii is a sub-sect of Lingayats, a small but politically significant community in Karnataka.

In the video the seer says, "chief minister, You are a good man. Murugesh Nirani has stood shoulder to shoulder with you, held your hands. If you leave his hand this time, then the whole community will leave your hands." Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani is a legislator from the Bilgi, Bagalkot. He is a close confidant of Yediyurappa and is also from the Lingayat community.

The chief minister then confronts the seer saying, "You cannot threaten me." To which the Swami says, "I am not threatening. I am stating the truth and asking for my right."

In fact, we found many articles reporting about this particular incident. A report by NDTV clearly mentions the whole incident in detail.

Further, when Yediyurappa addressed the rally, he even offered to resign. The above mentioned NDTV article also reported, Yediyurappa saying, "I request the seer, please understand my situation. 17 MLAs resigned as MLAs and ministers. Yediyurappa wouldn't be chief minister if not for them. It's because of their sacrifice and all your blessings that I've become CM of the state. Let seers give suggestions, I'll come and discuss in person. If you don't need, I'm willing to resign tomorrow. I'm not stuck to my chair."

Below is an excerpt from the News Minute which also reported on the video.

"During the event, Swami Vachananda who is the seer of the Peetha publicly said the community will go against BS Yediyurappa if he fails to accommodate at least three MLAs of the sect in the next cabinet expansion. The Chief Minister was present at the event when the seer made his statement.

The seer added that Murugesh Nirani, MLA from Bilgi in Bagalkot, who was also present in the same dias, should get a "good cabinet" berth. Batting for him, the seer added that Nirani had stood behind Yediyurappa like a rock and the sect and if the Chief Minister fails to accommodate him then the entire Panchamasali will no longer support him."