By: Express News ServiceBengaluru | September 21, 2025 10:01 PM IST 2 min readProminent seer Jayamrutyunjaya Swami was sacked as head of the Kudalasangama Peeta on Sunday.The Peeta is the apex religious mutt of Panchamasalis – a sub-sect of Veerashaiva-Lingayats – and is located at Kudala Sangama, Bagalkot district. The decision to sack Jayamrutyunjaya Swami was announced by Vijayanand Kashappanavar, Congress MLA and president of Akhila Bharat Lingayat Panchamasali Samaj Trust, following a meeting of the office bearers of the Trust.Members of the Trust were opposed to the announcement by the seer on Saturday that Panchamasalis should enter their religion as ‘Hindu’, as against calls made by the Trust that they should classify themselves under the ‘Others’ category during the Socio-Economic and Education Survey starting Monday. “We are living on the basis of Basava philosophy. But the seer is propagating Sanatan ideology,” Kashappanavar said.Apart from this, there were several other serious allegations against the seer due to which the Trust decided to expel him as head of the Peeta, Kashappanavar told reporters following the meeting. Another seer will be appointed to replace him in the coming days, he added.Listing our community under the Hindu religion will be a hindrance to securing reservations under the 2A category, the MLA said. It can be recalled that the seer had spearheaded the campaign seeking 2A reservation for the community for the past five years.Members of the Trust had also raised complaints that the seer had enriched himself over the years.There are differences among various sects of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community over how the community should be classified in the Survey.Story continues below this adDisagreements over the issue among community leaders had come to the fore during a meeting held on Thursday. While a group of leaders representing the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha had asked community members to be classified under the ‘Others’ category, BJP leaders had maintained that Veerashaiva Lingayats were Hindus and should classify themselves as members of the religion.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Karnataka