Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 4 (ANI): Defending Karnataka government's decision of allocating Rs 50 crore as initial grant for the Maratha Development Board formation in the state, Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwathnarayan on Friday said that whoever has lived in Karnataka for 10 years is a Kannadiga.

The comment came as Pro-Kannda groups led by Vatal Nagraj have called for a state-wide bandh on December 5 against the government's decision. The formation of Maratha Development Board was announced by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on November 14.

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"The Maratha Development Corporation is set up for the benefit of the Marathi people in the state, not the Marathi speakers. It is not right to associate language with corporations. There is no point in bandh. If anyone lived in Karnataka for ten years, they are all legal," Ashwathnarayan told reporters here.

He said the Maratha corporation was aimed at the prosperity and social and economic development of the Maratha community in the state.

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"Marathas have been in the state for centuries. Justice has now been done. The Maratha Development Corporation will not do Kannadigas any injustice. It is better if governments in other states take similar measures to achieve social equality. We are all working to be a role model." he added.

When asked whether Karnataka government is ready to form Tamil and Telugu development authorities, he said, "It is not wrong for them to have a corporation. Whoever lived in the state for 10 years, they are all Kannadigas. They can not be called or treated as second-class citizens. The BJP government is embracing the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam."

Ashwathnarayan said the government was working on goodwill.

"Organisations like Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) should not be allowed to make such a concerted effort to prevent growth in Belagavi. Belgavi is ours. There is no question if giving away an inch of land in Belagavi. We are doing all this to ensure that the Marathas in the state are ours," he added. (ANI)

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