A delegation of Congress leaders from the district met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Monday, demanding taluk status for Kalasa.

The delegation led by Dr D L Vijaykumar, Chikkamagaluru District Congress Committee president, wanted the chief minister to announce Kalasa taluk in the supplementary budget and also accord the town the status of taluk centre, to meet the long-pending demand. They wanted the sanctioning of veterinary college at Amrut Mahal Kaval at Birur.

The delegation members petitioned Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara and Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa, according to the District Congress Committee spokesperson M C Shivananda Swamy.

They also felicitated both the chief minister and the home minister for the district benefiting with a government medical college and other projects as announced in the recent budget.

Tarikere MLA G H Srinivas, MP Chandrappa, KPCC vice president B L Shankar, chairman of Jungle Lodges and Resorts Limited A N Mahesh, Chikkamagaluru Urban Development Authority chairman Haneef were prominent among the leaders who were a part of the delegation.

Delegation criticised
Meanwhile, in a separate release, BJP district unit spokesperson Varasiddhi Venugopal has chided Congress delegation for expressing gratitude to the chief minister and other leaders, for no reason.

The government medical college appears to be a mere promise, as no funds has been set aside for the same, while the previous BJP-led government had identified 12 acres of land for the purpose. An IT has been promised to complete Kargada lift irrigation project aimed at filling the Belavadi lake by 2017, there is no mention of funds released towards taking up works on concrete lining and other works, said the spokesperson.

Venugopal disputed the claim of the Congress district unit president Vijaykumar that Rs 15 crore has been released towards building a check dam in the district.
DH News Service