The Karnataka Cabinet formalised the creation of a new Vijayanagar district by bifurcating Ballari on Friday.
The new Vijayanagar district will comprise Hospet, Harapanahalli, Hoovina Hadagali, Hagaribommanahalli, Kottur and Kudligi taluks. The Ballari district will have Ballari, Kurugodu, Siruguppa, Sandur and Kampli taluks, according to Law Minister JC Madhuswamy.
“Hospet will be the headquarters of the new Vijayanagar district,” Madhuswamy said. “We will issue a notification proposing this delimitation seeking public objections, after which it will be finalized,” he said.
Vijayanagar will be Karnataka’s 31st district.
The mining district of Ballari is politically significant, comprising nine Assembly constituencies of which the Congress represents five and the BJP four.
Forest Minister Anand Singh, the minister in charge of Ballari, is said to be the force behind getting the new district created. Singh had resigned from the Congress last year when the Congress-JD(S) coalition was in power, citing that his demand for a new district fell on deaf ears. He got disqualified and went on to join the BJP.
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