Yediyurappa allocates Rs 500 cr to his community’s corporation

Bengaluru, Nov 23 : Karnataka on Monday allocated a whopping Rs 500 crore to the newly-formed Karnataka Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation (KVLDC).
Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa had only last week announced that such a body will be set up in the state.
His decision was preceded by the decision to set up a Maratha Development Authority (MDA). However, it had got an allocation of just Rs 50 crore.
The push for the KVLDC came after a group of Lingayat community ministers and MLAs led by Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi met Yediyurappa, who is considered the tallest political leader of the community, and urged him to form this corporation.
According to these leaders, even though Lingayats form 17 per cent population in Karnataka and have made a significant contribution in the state, the community has a substantial number of poor people, who eke out a living by working as labourers.
Yediyurappa’s decision on the MDA comes ahead of the announcement of bypolls to the Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency, as well as Basavakalyan and Maski assembly constituencies, which have a sizeable Marathi-speaking population.