Many farmers, Dalit organisations, Kannada groups, and members of the transgender community, under the banner of Akhanda Ballari Zilla Horata Samiti, staged a protest here on Monday opposing the State government’s move to bifurcate Ballari and form Vijayanagara district out of it.
Forum leader Sirigeri Pannaraj and farmers’ leader Darur Purushottam Gowda criticised the BJP government, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, and his Cabinet colleagues for taking a “unilateral decision” without consulting various organisations and the people of the region before sending such a recommendation for the approval of the Cabinet.
The agitators said that consecutive governments have not been responsive on the matter of development of newly carved-out districts in the past, always failing to address their socio-economic needs.
Terming the formation of a new district “politically motivated”, the protesters said that Vijayanagara district was not being created based on the demands from the people of the region. They alleged that Forest and Environment Minister B.S. Anand Singh had pressured the State government on the formation of the district for his own political ends, not development.
The forum took out a rally through the main streets in Kalaburagi city and reached the Deputy Commissioners’ office and submitted a memorandum demanding that the State government withdraw the decision. The protesters also threatened to intensify their stir if the government failed to do so.
