The Uttar Karnataka Vikas Vedike has threatened to start another agitation for a separate state if the Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy does not act on his promise of developing Belagavi as the second capital of Karnataka.
“We are giving the CM three months to begin work on his assurances. If not, we will organise a huge rally,” Ashok Pujari, vedike convener and BJP leader from Gokak, said here on Friday.
He told presspersons that he and his associates will organise a rally with 500 seers and a crowd of around 50,000 in Belagavi.
He claimed that the rally of seers he had helped organise before the Suvarna Soudha was a success and had forced the CM to make some assurances to the people of north Karnataka.
According to him, the first step would be the transfer of some important offices to Suvarna Soudha and the next would be filling of all vacant posts and releasing additional funds for the development of the region.
He urged all elected representatives from north Karnataka to convince the Chief Minister to take up development works and resign, if their demands were not met.
He criticised Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray for saying that Mr. Kumaraswamy had no right to talk about making Belagavi as the second capital of Karnataka.
“As per the Mahajan Commission, Belagavi belongs to Karnataka. Shiv Sena leaders should not interfere in our internal matters,” he said.
Leaders like Kalyan Rao Muchalambi, R.S. Darge and others were present.