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BENGALURU: Expressing their ire against the constitution of the Maratha development board, the Congress and Kannada activists have lambasted the “politically” motivated decision by chief minister B S Yediyurappa and claimed it is “anti-Kannada”.
So much so, the Kannada activists have even threatened a statewide Bandh on December 5, if the government fails to reverse its decision.
On Tuesday, pro-Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj said the decision by the Yediyurappa government to create the Maratha development board had brought shame to Karnataka and Kannadigas.
“If the government fails to withdraw its decision for creating a Maratha board then there will be a statewide bandh call on December 5. It is the question of survival for Kannada and Kannadigas,” said Nagraj.
On similar lines, cine actor and former Kannada development authority (KDA) chairman Mukhyamantri Chandru has urged the CM to drop the idea of creating the Maratha development board as it was encouraging Marathi language over Kannada.
Chandru was critical of the government by citing that the state had cut down on the funds for the KDA in the present fiscal but has set aside Rs 50 crore for the Maratha development board.
“Since its inception, the KDA never recieved an allocation of Rs 50 crore. In fact, the entire allocation towards the Kannada authority till date does not even amount to 75 per cent of the allocation made towards the new board. But today, purely on the premise of electioneering and wooing the Maratha vote bank for the upcoming bypoll, the government has decided to create the new board,” said Chandru in his open letter.
At the other end, the Congress party has also criticised the decision to create the Maratha board by citing that it is purely political.
“With only the upcoming by-election in mind, the decision to create the Maratha board has been taken. It is supposedly meant to woo the Maratha votebank and not with any intent to develop or uplift the community,” said opposition leader Siddaramaiah.
However, KPCC president D K Shivakumar was much more cautious in his statement ahead of the Belagavi Lok Sabha and Basavakalyana assembly bypolls.
“We are yet to decide on our official stand on the Maratha development board creation. With the bypolls to the assembly seat and Lok Sabha vacancy, apart from the GP polls, coming up, we intend to take up the issues of farmers,” he said.
