Pragativahini News, Belagavi:
A massive rally and meeting is being organised by members of hundreds of organisations, people’s representatives, religious heads, etc., on Saturday in Belagavi in protest against the proposed splitting of the VTU.
At a meeting of various organisations headed by Chandrashekhar Shivacharya Swamy of Hukkeri Mutt in Belagavi on Tuesday, a unanimous decision was taken by all to hold the rally to exert pressure on the government against its move.
A decision to invite all people’s representatives, students members of various organisations, seers from different mutts, litterateurs, etc., for the rally was taken at the meeting and an appeal also was made to the people of Belagavi to attend the rally voluntarily in the larger interests of North Karnataka. After Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy announced of splitting VTU so as to have another technical university in Hassan, people and leaders from all parts of North Karnataka condemned it besides holding the protests in the last few days.
Addressing the meeting today, Chandrashekhar Shivacharya Swamy said, the people of North Karnataka would certainly not demand a separate statehood but would be compelled to take such a devastating step if they suffered injustice. Questioning the government’s reluctance to shift nine important offices to North Karnataka even after announcing their relocation from Bengaluru to North Karnataka, he said, the people’s representatives from this region must wake up from slumber or else face people’s wrath. He said, the representatives from NK must respond to people’s aspirations to avoid dharnas in front of their houses by the people.
He also suggested local leaders also to launch a signature campaign against the division of VTU to put pressure on the government against taking anti-NK decisions in the future. Senior journalist M K Hegde feared that the regional imbalance that already existed in the state could further worsen if such one-side decisions were taken by the government and said, the agitations against injustice to the region must wake the governments up from slumber.
According to him, already some local MLAs started a signature campaign in Bengaluru against the government’s move. Professional Forum’s president B S Patil accused the government of weakening people of NK by dividing important institutions and said, no wonder the situation in the future could rule out the need for VTU itself in Belagavi. Former mayor Siddangouda Patil alleged that CM H D Kumaraswamy and Minister H D Revanna were conspiring to take VTU home by splitting it. He said, a demand for separate statehood for NK could take shape if the region continued to suffer raw deal.
Farmers leader Sidagouda Modagi, Dr Rajashekhar, Dr.Sonali Sarnobat, Rohan Juvali, Ram Bhandare, Prurtvikumar, Deepak Gudaganatti, Rajeev Topannava, Raviraj Patil and leader of Kannada Rakshana Vedike Mahadev Talwar extended the support to the rally to be held on Saturday and said, it would highlight the injusticde meted out to the region. The meeting also decided to invite all MLAs and MPs from various parts of North Karnataka for Saturday’s rally.
