Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said the coalition government headed by him would always stand for an unified Karnataka and oppose any attempt by groups or parties to divide it for political gains.
He held a meeting with leaders from North Karnataka and promised to visit all 13 northern districts in the next month or two. He also promised the delegation of shifting offices of some government departments and boards/corporations to the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi to take administration to the doorsteps of the people in northern Karnataka.
In fact, the first session of the State legislature was held in Belagavi during Mr. Kumaraswamy’s tenure in 2007. It was the Kumaraswamy government that mooted the proposal to construct a building to hold legislature session in Belagavi to counter the border dispute with Maharashtra.
The Chief Minister blamed the Opposition BJP for the sudden demand of separate statehood for North Karnataka, saying that the party was fuelling the demand for electoral gains in 2019.
Budget allocation
Stating that his government would not discriminate one region against the other in the State, the Chief Minister said he earlier promised to declare Belagavi as the second capital of Karnataka. Already, ₹500 crore has been set aside in his budget for development of cluster-based industries in North Karnataka region, he said. Noting that he had made 27 visits to north Karnataka region during his 20-month tenure as the Chief Minister in 2006-07, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the loan waiver scheme would benefit a large number of farmers of the northern region.