New Delhi: Former Karnataka Chief Minister (CM) and writer Veerapa Moily has bagged the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award-2020 for Kannada, for his epic poem ‘Sri Bahubali Ahimsa Digvijayam’ on the life of Bahubali and the history of Shravanabelagola in  Hassan district of Karnataka.

Moily, a senior Congress leader and a former Union Minister, is among 20 writers of the country who bagged the award for the year 2020, which was announced on Friday. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh and a citation.

Moily is a well-known writer in Kannada. His 5-part epic poem ‘Shree Ramayana Mahanveshanam’ was awarded Saraswati Samman in 2015. 

Meanwhile, two other writers from Karnataka  have bagged the award — K.S. Mahadevaswamy, a teacher by profession, who writes under the pen name Swamy Ponnachi, has been awarded the ‘Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar-2020’ for his debut short story collection ‘Dhoopada Makkalu’ and H.S. Byakod has been awarded the ‘Bal Sahitya Puraskar-2020’ for his work  ‘Nanoo Ambedkar.’