After the arrest of living Vokkaliga stalwart, BJP announces statue of dead Vokkaliga stalwart

Bengaluru, Sept 13: In the wake of the political retaliation threat issued by the Vokkaligas against the Bharatiya Janata Party following the arrest of community stalwart D K Shivakumar by the Enforcement Directorate, the Karnataka state government led by the saffron party has decided to construct a massive statue of Bengaluru founder Kempegowda near the city's international airport.

The move is apparently aimed at appeasing the Vokkaliga community which has threatened to teach a lesson to BJP in coming days for targeting the community leaders through the agencies of union government. On Friday morning, citizens woke up to an article authored by Yediyurappa published in several Kannada dailies through which he announced his plans.

"The Karnataka government has resolved to make Kempegowda immortal. The Kempegowda Development Authority had remained as a mere announcement. The previous governments gave nothing for this, but our government has decided to reconstitute it and give it Rs 100 crore," Yediyurappa wrote.

"Also, the government has decided to establish a massive statue of Kempegowda in front of the Kempegowda International Airport. This will not be mere symbolism, but will also be a collective that will showcase Kempegowda's history and culture. The infrastructure necessary will be provided here to attract tourists who can learn more about Kempegowda. The literature on Kempegowda's vision for Bengaluru will be brought out in Kannada and English," the CM wrote, adding that the Authority had been tasked with coming out with a sound-and-light show to depict Kempegowda as the architect of modern Bengaluru.