Karnataka to carve out its 31st district from Ballari, to call it Vijayanagara

BENGALURU: The state cabinet on Wednesday gave its consent to carve out Karnataka’s 31st district-- Vijayanagara-- out of Ballari district.
A long standing demand of a few of his cabinet ministers, including the Ballari district in-charge Anand Singh, the initial proposal was made ahead of the 2019 bypolls when Singh and 14 other disqualified legislators were facing elections on a BJP ticket.
At that point, chief minister B S Yediyurappa had written an open letter citing that Vijayanagara district will be carved out of Ballari as the latter was becoming “untenable” with a large area to be covered.
In his letter the CM had said: “ Hospete, Kampli, Hagaribommanahalli, Kottur, Hadagali and Harapanahalli will form the new district of Vijayanagara with Hospete as the district headquarters. Ballari, Kurugodu, Siraguppa, Sandur and Kudligi taluks will continue to be part of Ballari district, with Ballari city as headquarters.”
On Wednesday, soon after the cabinet meeting, law minister JC Madhuswamy said the cabinet had given its “informal” approval and that a final decision will be taken at the next cabinet with which taluks and boundaries to be included inside the new district.
Lauding the decision of the cabinet, Singh said: “It was a long standing demand of the western taluks of Ballari to have a new Vijayanagara district. Vijayanagara was the first Hindu empire in the medieval period and was considered as one which was demanded by the people of that region. I thank the chief minister and my cabinet colleagues for approving this plan.”
Former Ballari MP, present social welfare department minister and strongman from the district, B Sriramulu also welcomed the decision and said Vijayanagara district was meeting with the aspirations of the people in that region.
The statement by Sriramulu was a U-turn from his previous stand which he had taken when the initial proposal was made.
Sriramulu and his longtime confidante Ballari city MLA Somashekar Reddy of the infamous Ballari Reddy brother had argued that no good would come out of the creation of the new district.
In fact Reddy had said the CM was taking a decision based on inputs from a few “selfish” leaders who wanted to divide the district and even reasoned that Ballari could be renamed as Vijayanagara district.
On Wednesday, Reddy once again voiced his adverse opinion citing that a decision to divide the district would be met with vehement opposition from the people of Ballari.
“It would lead to a situation where people of the district, who want a united Ballari, will think of teaching BJP a lesson at the next elections,” he warned.
Reddy, personally, though could not voice his opposition against his own party, said he will stand with the people always.
The fight over Vijayanagara is likely to create a serious concern for the BJP with the Reddy brothers and Anand Singh on opposing ends.
However, the decision of Sriramulu in the coming days as cabinet minister will hold the key for the creation of the new district.