Hubballi: Hitting out at Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa has alleged that the father-son duo were responsible for igniting the demand for statehood for North Karnataka and also questioned the silence maintained by the former PM on the issue despite people taking to the streets.
Criticising the statement of the Chief Minister who had wondered why farmers of the region did not remember him during the Assembly election, Yeddyurappa said no CM had spoken like this since the unification of Karnataka and indulged in divisive politics of this manner. “Deve Gowda has insulted former chief ministers by accusing them of neglecting the region. I want to question him about his contribution to the development of North Karnataka during his tenure as prime minister. Suvarna Vidhana Soudha was built at a cost of Rs 600 crore when I was in power. Now, the building is lying idle, the legislative session should be conducted regularly by deputing an additional secretary and shifting departments there”, Yeddyurappa said.
Addressing mediapersons in Hubballi, he rubbished the Chief Minister’s claim that 65 per cent of the revenue from Bengaluru is being utilized for the development of North Karnataka and said that the region has made major contributions in the form of foodgrains, power supply and gold production. Responding to the demand made by BJP leaders Umesh Katti and B. Sriramulu for a separate state, he claimed that it is not their voice and they are only expressing the feeling of the people who faced neglect.
Demanding that the Chief Minister tender an apology for his statement against the people of the region, Yeddyurappa alleged that he has been dancing to the tunes of his father. Ironically, former minister and Hukkeri MLA Umesh Katti, who has been backing statehood, had invited the BJP leader and accompanied him during the protest in Belagavi. Despite the party’s stand for a united Karnataka, Katti has warned that he will continue to demand statehood for North Karnataka until the government takes up overall development of the region.
