Congress worker to ‘staunch Hindutva supporter’ and ‘cow saviour’: Story of a Karnataka BJP MLA

In his complaint to the police, Mehraj said that he was inside his house celebrating Eid when Salagar and his supporters, numbering 15-25, barged into his house “screaming that the family was slaughtering animals”.

He alleged that Salagar issued threats to him.

Mehraj, in his complaint, quoted the MLA as having allegedly told them that “Muslims are taking all the houses. They would not allow Hindus to live. They are acting too much. We will teach them a lesson.”

Several Salagar’s followers, however, maintained that they “admired” him as a “saviour of the cow”.

Congress to BJP via stints as MLAs’ PA

Salagar, who hails from VK Salagar village of Kamalapur taluk of Bidar district, started off his career as a primary school teacher in 2002. BJP leaders in the district say that his “networking skills and good image” helped him branch out into politics.

His first political foray would be behind the scenes, working with former Basavakalyan MLA Revu Naik Belamagi as his personal assistant (PA).

He also subsequently worked as a PA to Ajay Singh, the son of former Karnataka chief minister Dharam Singh, who currently represents the Jewargi Assembly seat. Both these leaders are from the Congress.

Salagar remained with the Congress as a worker and switched his loyalties in 2016 when he did not get the party ticket to contest the Zilla Panchayat polls.

He rose in the BJP ranks quickly due to the support of Kalaburgi rural BJP MLA Basawaraj Mattimudu, say local BJP workers. He became a legislator for the first time in 2021, winning a bypoll in Basavakalyan that was necessitated due to the demise of Congress MLA B Narayanrao due to Covid-19.

This especially worked out in Salagar’s favour as the BJP could thus register a win in Basavakalayan for the first time since 2008.

A party source said that while “Salagar did not have any hopes that he would become an MLA”, he got an advantage for belonging to the Veerashaiva Lingayat community.

Salagar managed to retain his seat in the 2023 Assembly election, winning against Vijay Singh of the Congress by 14,415 votes. This was seen as a “significant victory”, with Vijay being the son of Dharam Singh.

Salagar was not known for taking a hard Hindutva stand until 2022, local leaders say. In June that year, he led a campaign claiming that the Peer Pasha Dargah in Basavakalyan was built on an Anubhava Mantapa, considered to be the first religious parliament of the world. He demanded for a survey, but it died down with the reservation stir of the Panchamshali Lingayats taking the spotlight.

Ahead of the Assembly election, a photo of Salagar went viral in which he purportedly stepped on the statue of Lord Ram while he was garlanding it on the occasion of Ramnavami. Salgar later issued a statement saying that he was a “staunch Hindutva supporter”.

On the latest row over his barging into a Muslim resident’s home, BJP sources said that Salagar’s move could just be a way of getting the state party leadership’s attention. “With no Leader of Opposition announced, some MLAs are trying their luck to convince the high command. Most of these attempts are being made by Lingayat MLAs as they anticipate that someone from the Lingayat community would lead the party in Karnataka. Salagar is making efforts to grow within the party,” a source said.