Celebrations mark Basava jayanthi in city

Basava Sandesha Bhavana to open at a cost of Rs 10 crore

Basava jayanti celebrations in the city had an unexpected visitor in the form of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa. The former CM was expected to participate in the valedictory programme scheduled to be held on April 25, but he landed in the city on the inaugural day of the celebrations.

Yeddyurappa offered a garland to the statue at Basaveshwara Circle along with district in-charge minister S A Ramdas, Suttur mutt seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra and a host of other dignitaries.
Later, a colourful rally was taken out comprising several colourful folk troupes.

Speaking at a function organised by the Kannada and culture department and district administration at Kalamandira, Yeddurappa reiterated that he wasn’t hankering after the CM’s ‘gaddi’.
Yeddyurappa said his only intention was to serve the people.

Reminiscing about his contributions as chief minister, Yeddyurappa said he had granted Rs 25 crore for the establishment of Basaveshwara Research Centre (BRC) at Bangalore.

However, he lamented that it wasn’t given much importance after he stepped down from power.
While mentioning that works on construction of the research centre had taken a back seat, he said the state government would complete the project soon.

Even as crowds continuously whistled in his support during his speech, Yeddyurappa stated that he wouldn’t speak about politics on the auspicious occasion. However, he said that even though he had taken up several developmental projects during his tenure, a few people had plotted to frame him.

District in-charge minister S A Ramdas said even foreigners were following Basavanna’s vachanas. He announced that Basava Adhyayana Peetha would be opened in the city as Basavanna’s principles were not restricted to Lingayat community alone. He said Basava Sandesha Bhavana would be constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore in the city.

MLA M Satyanarayan, MLCs Thontadarya, G Madhusudhan and Marithibbegowda, Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath, Karnataka Housing Board chairman G T Devegowda, Karnataka Exhibition Authority chairman B P Manjunath, Karnataka Zoo Authority chairman M Nanjundaswamy, MUDA chairman L Nagendra, mayor Pushpalatha Chikkanna, zilla panchayat president Suneetha Veerappagowda, ZP CEO G Sathyavathi, deputy commissioner P S Vastrad and others were present.