Facing criticism, BSY drops offer to rename villages after

Apparently faced with criticism from a section of villagers and political class, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday dropped the offer to rename flood-hit villages after donors who contribute more than Rs 10 crore for relief works.

The offer has now been modified, and the Chief Minister said such donors contributing for the development of the flood-affected villages would have the new layouts, which would come up there, named after them, not villages.

"Clarification: Chief Minister had announced that donors contributing more than Rs 10 crore will have the layouts named after them, not the villages," he tweeted.

Yediyurappa's announcement on Wednesday at a meeting with industrialists and corporates in the wake of last fortnight's rain fury that left 62 people dead, that villages would be renamed after companies if they give more than Rs ten crore had drawn criticism from some villagers and the JDS.

The contention of those villagers and some JDS leaders is that changing village name is nothing short of losing one's identity.

The JD(S), headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, had termed the move "Tughlaq"-like.

".. Please don't make people who have lost everything in the floods to lose the name of their village," the party had said.

"Do not put Karnataka up for sale".