BJP slams Siddaramaiah govt's nod to Lingayats; KCR and Mamata meet in Kolkata; more

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah's government will recommend to the Centre that the Lingayats, an electorally influential community in the poll-bound state, should be recognised as a separate religious group.

Lingayats are followers of the social reformer and poet Basavanna, and make up 17 per cent of Karnataka's population.

The BJP's chief ministerial candidate, BS Yeddyurappa, is a Lingayat.

Meanwhile, the anti-Modi Third Front seems to be taking shape with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao flying to Kolkata to meet his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee today.

Both the leaders said that they believe in a strong "federal front" that will offer a non-BJP, non-Congress alternative to the people of the country.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief KCR said that what the country today needs is a "miracle" (chamatkaar) and a "revolution" after more than 70 years of rule by the Congress and the BJP governments.