Vijayanagara dist: Trouble brews at home for BSY

A day after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa mooted carving out Vijayanagar district from Ballari, voices of dissent emerged from his own party on Friday.

“I don’t want to embarrass the chief minister by speaking more on it. The development of Ballari is possible only if it remains undivided. Splitting the district will only hinder development,” said Minister for Health and Family Welfare, B Sreeramulu. The minister, who hails from Ballari, represents Molakalmuru Assembly constituency in Chitradurga district.

“Some people demanding separate district, while some want to remain united. I will speak to the chief minister and also in the Cabinet in this regard,” he said.

Sreeramulu said that there had been no “expected development” in the newly created districts such as Gadag, Koppal and Yadgir, in spite of the emphasis laid by various governments.

Bellary City MLA G Somashekhara Reddy was very curt in his comment. “An assembly of selfish people is out to bifurcate the district. All the people in the delegation who submitted a memorandum to the chief minister are seflish. It is unpardonable that they are out to split the district to serve their interests.”

Describing the plan to Ballari district a “Tughalq move,” Reddy said that he was totally opposed to it. “It is not proper to create a district just on the ground that some people submitted a memorandum. The chief minister should reconsider his decision.”

Reddy said that Hosapete cannot be developed as a district centre. Instead, he suggested naming Ballari as Vijayanagar.

Meanwhile, several local organisations have called for Hagaribommanahalli bandh on Sunday demanding that the town be made district headquarters.