Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge has said that if there was no Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, it would have not been possible to accord special status to the Kalyana Karnataka region under Article 371(J) of the Constitution.
“The long-pending demand of the region for the amendment to Article 371(J) was fulfilled with the efforts made by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Chief Minister the late Dharam Singh and All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjuna Kharge,“ Mr. Priyank Kharge said.
Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi on Saturday, Mr. Kharge said that the other leaders who fought for the special status for the region were also remembered whose contributions were lauded on several occasions. “We did not say that only Congress leaders worked for getting Special status accorded to Kalyana Karnataka region under Article 371?(J) of the Constitution,” Mr. Kharge stressed. Besides Dharam Singh and Mallikarjun Kharge, many other leaders including Vaijnath Patil, Vishwanath Reddy Mudnal, Bapu Gowda Darshanapur, Hanumanth Rao Desai, and Vidhyadhar Guruji have fought for the implementation of Article 371(J), he added.
Mr. Kharge clarified that the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in his reply to the proposal submitted by the State government for the implementation of Article 371(J) had clearly stated it was “Not Feasible” and rejected it. However, Mr. Advani had nowhere asked to submit a detailed report of the proposal as said by Mr. Umesh Jadhav.
“Why don’t BJP leaders accept the reality that Mr. Advani had rejected the proposal for Amendment to Article 371(J) according special status to Kalyana Karnataka region,” Mr. Kharge questioned.
Works carried out
In the last decade, the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) has take up 29,257 works related to basic amenities, 10,896 works related to the education sector and 1,496 works in the health sector, 12,207 works of bridge-cum-barrages, 1,688 works related to drinking water projects, 464 (construction of public and community toilets) sanitation works, and 73 projects related to agriculture and irrigation.
Mr. Kharge added that in the last ten years, around 6,795 students had got medical seats, 1,388 got dental seats, 2,22,129 got engineering seats, while 3,808 took up horticulture, 3,448 homoeopathy, and 1,593 pharmacy in the reservation under Article 371(J) of the Constitution.
Mr. Kharge alleged that the KKRDB was a den of corruption under the BJP rule, and after the Lok Sabha elections, the State government would order for a probe into the alleged corruptions in the Board.
