BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and others submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, proposing to rename Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South District.
Speaking to reporters, Shivakumar said that a delegation of Ramanagara district MLAs and himself submitted the proposal to the CM on Tuesday. He said this initiative was taken keeping in mind the development and future of Ramanagara, Channapatna, Magadi, Kanakapura and Harohalli taluks.
Shivakumar said the people of Doddaballapura, Devanahalli, Hoskote, Kanakapura, Ramanagara, Channapatna and Magadi were all Bengalureans originally. "Ramanagara and Bengaluru rural districts were carved out from Bengaluru urban areas for administrative ease," he added.
He also said Ramanagara needs to be renamed, keeping Ramanagara (taluk) as the district headquarters. "We have submitted a proposal regarding this," he added.
Explaining it further, DyCM said renaming would help bring industries to the district and the land valuation would go up as well. "Bengaluru has scope to grow only towards Ramanagara and Tumkur as it has Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on other sides'' he said.
When asked which taluks would come under Bengaluru South district, he said it was only a renaming exercise and there wouldn't be any change in the geographical boundaries of the district.
Shivakumar had announced renaming Ramanagara to Bengaluru South District, which was widely opposed by BJP and JDS leaders. It can be noted that when HD Kumaraswamy was Chief Minister, Ramanagara district was carved out of the Bengaluru Rural district in 2007.
Both DK Shivakumar and HD Kumaraswamy, Vokkaliga leaders from this region, are eying to take hold of this place. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh lost the Bangalore Rural LS constituency against Kumaraswamy's brother-in-law, Dr CN Manjunath, and Ramanagara was part of the Bangalore Rural LS constituency.