The first female Lingayat seer, Mate Mahadevi, has called for the community to back Congress and Siddaramaiah as they have given them "a big gift". The seer also said that BJP President Amit Shah and RSS were misleading and lying to the people about the community. "PM Modi should gift us a separate religion status for Lingayats on April 18 i.e. Basava Jayanti," says Mate Mahadevi.