The call for a separate State for North Karnataka is gathering steam as Uttar Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti (North Karnataka separate statehood agitation committee) planning to hold a bandh on August 2 to force the Centre to accede to their demand.
A forum comprising various farmers and student organisations has called for a bandh on August 2 demanding separate statehood for North Karnataka. “The bandh will be in all 13 districts of North Karnataka,’’ forum leader Somashekhar Kotambari said in Hubballi on Wednesday.
North Karnataka comprises the regions known as Hyderabad-Karnataka and Bombay-Karnataka. It includes the districts of Belagavi, Bagalakote, Bidar, Ballari, Gulbarga, Raichur, Gadag, Dharawad, Haveri and Koppal districts.
In 2006, took the initiative to build the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi to focus on overall development of North Karnataka, it has not yielded results. Suvarna Vidhana Soudha is a white elephant with no government office located there.
Molkalmoru MLA B Sriramulu today batted for separate statehood for North Karnataka, alleging injustice to the region.BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa had earlier flayed those demanding separate statehood, saying such a demand will not lead to any solution.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has already begun informal consultations with senior bureaucrats and retired officials to shift at least some important posts to Suvarna Soudha Belagavi with an intention to take administration closer to the people in northern districts.
Sources said that in the first round of reshuffle, the government is considering to create a new post of Additional Secretary (Administration) exclusively for North Karnataka region with headquarters at Suvarna Soudha.
