Medical college row: DKS warns CM of ‘serious action’

Asking Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to restore the proposal of a medical college in Kanakapura, Congress leader D K Shivakumar has warned the CM of “serious action,” in case the government fails to do so.

The row over the medical college started when the government decided to start a medical college in Chikkaballapur (along with five others), replacing the proposal for a medical college in Kanakapura (which the previous government had sanctioned), which is Shivakumar’s constituency. Shivakumar said the government was playing vendetta politics by cancelling the medical college to his constituency.

In his letter, Shivakumar stated that he had no problem with medical colleges coming up in other places. However, his problem was with the government taking away the proposal from Kanakapura, he said. The proposal for medical college in Chikkaballapur was one of the main campaign points for BJP candidate K Sudhakar during bypolls.

“The proposal was in an advanced stage. I request the government to restore it, in the absence of which, I will resort to serious action in my own way,” Shivakumar’s letter reads.

In October, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had written to the state government, giving its consent only to three of the six proposed medical colleges under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for New Medical Colleges. These included Chikkamagaluru, Haveri and Yadgir.