On Kannada Rajyotsava 2018, Demand For Separate North Karnataka State Resurfaces

Bengaluru, October 31: Karnataka Rajyotsava or Karnataka Foundation Day will be observed tomorrow on November 1 to celebrate the merger of all the Kannada language-speaking regions of South India to form the state of Karnataka. Ironically, the demand for separate statehood for North Karnataka is being raised again Karnataka Rajyotsava, which marks the unification of Kannada language-speaking regions.

Kalyana Karnataka, a Hyderabad-Karnataka region-based outfit, has vowed to hoist a new Karnataka flag on Karnataka Rajyotsava to reiterate its demand for a separate North Karnataka state. "We will hoist a new Karnataka flag tomorrow on Karnataka Rajyotsava Day. We are demanding a separate state of North Karnataka comprising of six districts as there has been no development in this part of the state," Vinod Kumar, a member of the outfit, told news agency ANI.

North Karnataka is divided into two regions - Hyderabad-Karnataka and Bombay-Karnataka, and the region shares borther with Maharashtra and Telangana. It includes districts of Belagavi, Bagalkote, Bidar, Ballari, Kalburgi, Raichur, Gadag, Dharawad, Haveri and Koppal. The lack of new schemes for North Karnataka in Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s maiden state budget on July 5 has apprently sparked the fresh protests.

Pro-North Karnataka outfits have been accusing successive state governments of tunring a blind-eye towards the economic disparity of the region. In 2012, the Congess-led UPA government had granted special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region under section 371(J) of the Constitution in a bid to assuage separatists. However, the move failed to supress the demand completely.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 31, 2018 11:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).