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DK Shivakumar fuels row over Kanakapura, says entire Ramanagara district may be renamed ‘Bengaluru South’
Opposition parties including former CM HD Kumaraswamy slammed Karnataka DCM DK Shivakumar for proposing integration of Ramanagara district with Bengaluru.
After spurring controversy with his “Kanakapura will be a part of Bengaluru” statement, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has now fuelled it by saying the entire Ramanagara district will be renamed as ‘Bengaluru South’. These statements were received with sharp rebuttal from opposition parties, specifically by former CM HD Kumaraswamy, who is the state JDS chief at present.
DK Shivakumar on Wednesday night took to social media site ‘X’ to say, “Ramanagara district comprising Channapatna, Ramanagara, Kanakapura, Magadi and Harohalli taluks has been contemplated to be renamed as Bengaluru Dakshina district.”
He added that the entire Ramanagara district belongs to Bengaluru limits and that the residents of its four taluks were “Bengalureans”, according to news agency PTI. The two senior leaders butted heads on the matter when Kumaraswamy, who represents the Ramanagara Assembly segment, said “one cannot divide Ramanagara district even after taking seven births.”
READ | Kanakapura will soon be part of Bengaluru: Karnataka DCM DK Shivakumar
Shivakumar represents the Kanakapura Assembly segment and said he will soon put in a proposal and a blueprint to bring Ramanagara district under Bengaluru, which Kumaraswamy alleged was a move to regularise “illegal” or “benami” assets.
“The whole of Ramanagara district belongs to Bengaluru. Magadi, Channapatna, Kanakapura and Ramanagara is Bengaluru. What shape this plan has to be given, I will speak about it in the days to come. There is not so much urgency to give it a shape, we will give it a shape in the days to come, there is a blueprint for it,” Shivakumar told reporters.
READ | Karnataka: Controversy erupts over proposed changes to Kanakapura's jurisdiction
Kumaraswamy was particularly irked by this as the Ramanagara district was created under his chief ministerial tenure under the JD(S)-BJP coalition in August 2007. The district comprises of Ramanagara, Channapatna, Magadi and Kanakapura taluks, and the headquarters of the district is around 48 kilometres from Bengaluru city.
Kumaraswamy hit out at the DCM on microblogging site ‘X’, where he wrote, “What is in their head? Is it looting lands worth gold in Kanakapura and handing them over to builders? Or build a fort on benami lands that have been already fenced? If you (Shivakumar) tell us, we will be grateful.”
In response, Shivakumar said, “I'm not bothered about what Kumaraswamy says, what I do or the government does is important. Let Kumaraswamy or anyone else take credit for making Ramanagara a district. The whole of Ramanagara district with its four taluks belongs to Bengaluru, let Kumaraswamy get the documents and have a look at it.”
“Kumaraswamy was earlier the Chief Minister. I thought he had common sense, but he doesn't have common sense. He should at least try to know from his father (former PM H D Deve Gowda) before commenting on such an issue. His father is a senior person, he knows things -- what is Ramanagara, what is its history,” he added.
BJP General Secretary and MLC N Ravikumar had also opposed the move, claiming, “Maybe he (Shivakumar) is not satisfied with his wealth. He and his family hold thousands of acres of land...it is for their prosperity that he wants to bring Kanakapura to Bengaluru.”
Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah told media that his deputy has not yet discussed the issue with him. “I don't know, ask him....I will discuss it with him. As he has not discussed with me, I don't know what's on his mind,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
