BENGALURU/BALLARI: Buckling under pressure from his own partymen, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa put off plans to carve out a new Vijayanagara district from Ballari for now.
Also dividing Ballari appeared to have opened up a Pandora’s box, demands to bifurcate several other districts cane up. If former Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara was pushing for Madhugiri to be carved out of Tumakuru, Congress MLAs Bheema Naik and PT Parameshwara Naik wanted Hagaribommanhalli and Hoovinahadagali carved out of Ballari.
Some BJP lawmakers, who staged protests on Tuesday and had even called for a bandh against the bifurcation, celebrated less than 24 hours later as the pressure they had applied had worked, with Yediyurappa blinking first.
The CM clarified after a high-level meeting on Wednesday that Ballari will remain one district for now. Top officials and elected representatives were part of the meeting. Interestingly, the Chief Secretary and Revenue Secretary had earlier given clearance to the bifurcation plan.
Yediyurappa abruptly wound up the meeting, which lasted well over 80 minutes, after MLA Somashekar Reddy spoke. The CM said they will not go ahead with the bifurcation plan until the bypolls on December 5 and excused himself saying he has some other appointment. Sources said he had to yield to pressure of the Reddy brothers who were unhappy that the bifurcation of Ballari would mean
erosion of their power.
While the meeting itself remained inconclusive, it has been a major victory for minister B Sriramulu and his camp comprising the Reddy brothers.
While the meeting itself remained inconclusive, it has been a major victory for Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu and his camp comprising the Reddy brothers -- G Karunakar and G Somashekar, who have sought a change of name of Ballari district as Vijayanagara district instead of dividing it. However, another strongman, Anand Singh, may have the last laugh, political observers feel.
It is said that Sriramulu had strategically not been opposing formation of the Vijayanagara district so as to not antagonize his Nayaka community which is a decisive factor in Hosapete. But with the government now deciding to put the proposal on hold even as other MLAs are demanding district status for their constituencies, Anand Singh may have suffered a setback as he was was banking on the bifurcation for his byelection win.
But with the demand for a separate district getting shriller, it is now considered more or less a people’s movement with local leaders, cutting across party lines, rooting for Vijayanagara district.
“If not today, Hosapete will be a district tomorrow. We will continue our struggle. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has assured Anand Singh that he will declare it after the bypolls. It is bound to happen,” said Patresh Hiremath, the Congress spokesperson in Ballari.
Congress leader Gujjal Nagraj, who is also convener of the Vijayanagara Zilla Horata Samithi, pointed out that the Vijayanagar district proposal came up in 2005 and it was Yediyurappa who assured that he will form the district in 2009, when he was Chief Minister. “He has promised that he will do it after the bypoll and he will do it. This is a temporary obstacle. We will not give up our movement. It is gaining momentum,” he said.