Karnataka CM's decision to divide Ballari district faces oppostion

BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s decision to turn Vijayanagara into a new district by carving up Ballari has met with stiff opposition from prominent leaders within the ruling BJP. Ballari has 11 taluks, six of which would go into making the new district.
Health minister B Sriramulu and legislator Somashekhar Reddy are among those who have objected to dividing Ballari.
While Sriramulu said he was “personally” against the division of Ballari, Reddy said he would not allow the district to be divided “at any cost”.
Yediyurappa, on Thursday, announced Vijaynagar would be turned into a 31th district of Karnataka, a day after a delegation led by disqualified MLA Anand Singh and Kampli legislator KJ Ganesh met him with the request to divide Ballari district. While accepting the request, Yediyurappa, apparently without consulting other leaders of the party, had asked officials to place the proposal for approval at the next cabinet meeting.
“Personally, I am not in favour of dividing Ballari district,” Sriramulu, who is from Ballari, said. “But I don’t want to embarrass the CM by issuing a public statement. I will convey my objection at the cabinet meeting.”
He also argued that Ballari’s development cannot be facilitated by dividing it. “We have seen what has happened to new districts created over the past decade,” he said.
Reddy was more vehement in his opposition and said the government had not sought the opinion of district leaders before agreeing to the proposal.
“We urge the CM not to take a hurried decision on the matter,” Reddy said. “Some selfish leaders are hell-bent on dividing the district. If it comes through, it is going to be Tughlaq Darbar (in Vijayanagar) and we will not allow it to happen.”
Dismissing the argument that the smaller the district, the greater the administrative convenience, Reddy said: “If that is the case, why hasn’t Belagavi, which has 18 taluks, not been divided? Anantpur district in Andhra Pradesh is spread over 300km and there are no cries of administrative inconvenience.”
Rather than divide Ballari, Reddy has suggested the government should consider renaming it as Vijayanagar district.