A day after BJP legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal’s appeal to the Chief Minister not to go back on the decision to form the Maratha Development Corporation, Chief Minister’s political secretary M.P. Renukacharya on Sunday defended the Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s decision to set up the corporation and attacked the former legislator and Kannada leader Vatal Nagaraj for his opposition.
Warning Mr. Vatal not to use harsh language against the Chief Minister on this issue, he said they would also be forced to use the same language to retort. He also defended the statements made by Mr. Yatnal on pro-Kannada leaders.
“The stand taken by the Kannada Chaluvali leaders on the Maratha corporation issue is not right and there is no need to call for a bandh, especially during the COVID-19 situation. Instead of calling for a bandh, they should respect the Chief Minister’s invitation for discussion,” he added. He also pointed out that the government announcement was for the Maratha community and not for Marathi language.
“Mr. Yediyurappa’s stand on Kannada is unquestionable. He was responsible for Kannada getting the classical language status and he had organised Kannada sammelan in Belagavi during his earlier stint. The Kannada activists will be held responsible for any untoward incident during the bandh,” he added.
However, the Kannada activists, led by Mr. Nagaraj, continued with their protest in Bengaluru on Sunday by waving black flag. Mr. Nagaraj also reiterated their plan to go ahead with Karnataka bandh on December 5.
