Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa may be the undisputed leader of the Lingayat community in the state. Nonetheless, time and again he has had to prove his loyalty to his community just the way the community has affirmed its loyalty to him, election after election.
After the Lingayat Movement demanding religious minority tag fizzled out post 2018 assembly polls, the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community has been demanding a reservation quota on the lines of Marathas in Maharashtra. Their latest bid had been to set up a Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation, which has now been sanctioned by the chief minister.
A day after Yediyurappa ordered the creation of Maratha Development Authority for their comprehensive development, he issued an order to constitute a new corporation for the development of Lingayats and Veerashaivas, stating that the community was socially, economically and educationally backward.
Interestingly, Sri Siddalinga Swami, pontiff of Siddaganga Mutt, one of the powerful Lingayat mutts, has called the move "unnecessary".
"There was no need for a separate Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation. There are poor and the needy people in all communities and the government should focus on them," said the pontiff.
Meanwhile, the chief minister's nod to the new caste-based development corporations has drawn flak from the opposition, which alleged that the BJP is trying to woo dominant communities ahead of the bypolls to Basava Kalyan (Bidar) and Maski (Raichur) assembly constituencies and the Belagavi Parliamentary seat. The BJP had announced a new development corporation for Kadu Golla community with a corpus of Rs 50 crore ahead of the Sira bypolls held on November 3 and won the seat.
The CM is on announcement spree of new caste-based boards, which will add to the existing corporations which already have a huge budget allocation. Yediyurappa, who is also the finance minister, has allocated Rs 72,093 crore for welfare and inclusive growth of the state in Budget 2020-21. Besides, the SC/ST plan (with an allocation of Rs 26,930 crore), there are separate development corporations for the backward classes (Rs 125 crore), nomadic and semi nomadic tribes (Rs 78 crore), Uppara (Rs 10 crore), Vishwakarma (Rs 25 crore), Nijasharana Ambigara Choudiah (Rs 50 crore), Arya Vysya (Rs 10 crore), Kumbara (Rs 20 crore), Gollas (Rs 10 crore) and Christians (Rs 200 crore).
Meanwhile, the pro-Kannada activists are opposed to the formation of a Maratha Development Authority and have threatened to stage Karnataka bandh on December 5, demanding the withdrawal of the order. The Maratha community, which is concentrated in the border districts in north Karnataka, has been demanding for reservation and inclusion in the 2A category.
"We oppose the CM's move to set up separate bodies for the development of linguistic minorities. It is an insult to Kannada. Let him scrap the Kannada Development Authority instead of wooing linguistic minorities," dared T.A. Narayana Gowda, president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike.
Leader of opposition, Siddaramaiah, said, "BJP is trying to woo the Maratha community, which has a sizable population in Basava Kalyan, ahead of the bypolls. "
Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwath Narayana defended the move, saying, "We are going to form a board for the development of the Maratha community which has been residing in the state for hundreds of years. It is not a board for the development of Marathi language."
