Bangalore: The Karnataka cabinet has accepted an expert panel's suggestion to grant the dominant Lingayat community the status of a religious minority and forwarded the recommendation to the Union government, lobbing what could be an election-year game changer to the Centre's court.

For the Lingayats to be recognised as a separate religious minority, the Centre has to notify the state's decision under the Central Minority Commission Act to complete the process.

"The cabinet unanimously accepted the recommendations made by the expert committee and decided to send it to the Centre to be notified under the central act," Karnataka law minister T.B. Jayachandra told reporters on Monday.

The influential Lingayats who make up 1.25 crore - or nearly a fifth - of Karnataka's 6.5 crore population have traditionally supported the BJP. But the cabinet's landmark move could help the state's ruling Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections due this summer.

The state cabinet's move followed the recommendations of a seven-member expert committee the Karnataka State Minorities Commission had set up.

The committee, headed by retired high court judge H.N. Nagamohan Das, had submitted its report on March 2 recommending that the Shaivite community, founded by the philosopher-saint Basavanna, be granted the status of a religious minority.

Minister Jayachandra said the expert committee report had stated that the Lingayats, who follow the teachings of Basavanna, could not be considered Hindus as the 12th century social reformer was against the caste system.

Lingayat scholars, including M.M. Kalburgi who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in 2015, have always believed that Lingayats are not Hindus.

Water resources minister M.B. Patil - a Lingayat - said Monday's recommendation to the Centre was a "historic" decision and a major victory for the community. "By recognising the Lingayats as a minority, the government has honoured the teachings of Basavanna who was against casteism," Patil said.

Asked if the Veerashaiva Lingayats - a related community also called Veerashaivas - were also Lingayats, state mining minister Vinay Kulkarni said only those who accept the "teachings of Basavanna can be considered a Lingayat".

The Veerashaivas follow the Vedas and are thus considered closer to Hinduism.

The BJP protested against what it called a bid to divide the Hindu community. "This is just vote-bank politics to get the support of the Lingayat community. Only seers have the right to take such a decision," senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP Shobha Karandlaje said.

While most Lingayat seers welcomed the P.C. Siddaramaiah government's move, Veerashaiva seers have opposed it. Sri Prasanna Renuka Veerasomeshwar Shivacharya Swami, the pontiff of the Rambhapuri Peetha, slammed the government and said the people would teach a lesson to the Congress and Siddaramaiah for dividing the community.

The seer has always maintained that Veerashaiva is a philosophical description of Lingayats, insisting that it was actually "Veerashaiva Lingayat Dharma" that comprised both groups.

Protests broke out in various parts of the state as Veerashaivas hit the streets and burned posters of the chief minister and Lingayat ministers who had campaigned for the religious minority status.