CM BSY orders setting up of Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation

After giving the go-ahead for the Maratha Development Authority, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has ordered setting up of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Corporation (VLDC) for the development of the Veerashaiva Lingayat community. The latest announcement comes after a group of ministers and Lingayat MLAs led by Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi pushed for the establishment of VLDC.

Bengaluru:Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced the setting up of the Karnataka Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Corporation (VLDC) for the development of the Veerashaiva Lingayat community on Tuesday.

The order comes in view of the demand for it raised from all political formations in the state after the government established the Maratha Development Corporation.

"The state has the largest number of people from the Veerashiva Lingayat community, and a section of them are economically, socially and educationally backward. The development of this community requires the establishment of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Corporation. The Corporation is to be established with immediate effect," the Chief Minister's order stated.

The latest announcement comes after a group of ministers and Lingayat MLAs led by Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi pushed for the establishment of VLDC on Monday.

According to political observers, the decision to set up the Maratha Development board was designed to woo the sizeable Maratha populace in Basava Kalyan Assembly constituency in Bidar district bordering Maharashtra.

The assembly bypoll is due in Basava Kalyan after the sitting Congress MLA B Narayan Rao died of COVID-19 in Bengaluru recently.

It is pertinent to mention here that CM Yediyurappa has given the go-ahead for the Maratha Development Authority, with a proposed amount of ₹ 50 crores.