BENGALURU: Leaders of north Karnataka, who have pressed for a separate state, should hold discussions with the chief minister and deputy chief minister if they feel that injustice has been meted out to the northern districts of the state, Cooperative Minister Bandeppa Kashempur said here on Saturday.
Both CM H D Kumaraswamy and DyCM G Parameshwara are ready to discuss the issue, he said. The leaders should enter into a dialogue rather than hastily pushing with their demand for a separate state, he said, commenting on the August 2 bandh call given in districts of north Karnataka. He said there was no reason for such a demand to divide “Akhanda Karnataka” as more development was happening in Hyderabad-Karnataka region today.
To a question on whether remarks by leaders such as H K Patil have renewed the demand for a separate state, he said all leaders from the state were against this demand. “Patil could have been aggrieved owing to recent political developments,” he said, referring to the rebellion within the Congress soon after the new Cabinet was sworn-in.
Kumaraswamy, he said, had contributed immensely to the welfare of north Karnataka and most of the beneficiaries of the loan waiver were from that part of the state.