People happy with Karnataka govt’s decision to rename Ramanagara district as B’luru South: DK Shivakumar

BENGALURU: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday defended the state government’s decision to rename Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South. He said there is broad public support for the government’s decision. He also attacked JD(S) leaders HD Kumaraswamy and HD Deve Gowda, saying they had separated Ramanagara from Hassan.

“We are Bengaluru, be it Ramanagara, Channapatna or Kanakapura. HD Kumaraswamy and HD Deve Gowda have come from Hassan. They came and divided Ramanagara from Hassan. People are very happy and the world is looking at Bengaluru,” Shivakumar told reporters here.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Priyank Kharge on Saturday said that by renaming Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South, the state government aims to brand the city as a good investment destination.

“What the government is planning to do is to present Bengaluru for better investment opportunities. It is not just renaming it Ramanagara; it is hardly an hour away from CBD (Central Business District) and if we can present a bigger Bengaluru, it will be a good investment destination. There is nothing wrong with that,” Priyank Kharge told ANI.

The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday approved the renaming of Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South, a decision followed by an announcement by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

“The (state) cabinet has approved the renaming of Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South district,” Karnataka Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs HK Patil announced at a press conference on Friday.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Iranna Kadadi expressed his displeasure over the Karnataka government’s decision to change the name of Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South, terming it a “political game” by the Karnataka deputy chief minister.

“This is just because of the politics of the Deputy Chief Minister. They don’t like Ram’s name. Changing the name doesn’t mean development. How much they have spent on development is something that should be told to the people… It is a political game,” BJP MP from Karnataka Iranna Kadadi told ANI.

BJP MP Lahar Singh Siroya criticised the move and questioned the necessity of the change and raised concerns about the motives behind it.

“Ramanagara is a good name, I don’t know what allergy our leaders in Karnataka have for the name ‘Ram’… we have no objection to naming the city Bengaluru South, but the problems Bengaluru is facing like road situation, shortage of drinking water, law and order problems… we just hope that these problems don’t reach Bengaluru South…” BJP MP Pralhad Joshi also condemned the move, saying that the Congress party is against “Ram” and that is why they renamed the district Ramanagara.

“This shows their allergy to Ram and Ram Mandir, even to the name Ram. They are quite allergic. They used to do it when we built the Ram Mandir. But with the decision to rename it Ramanagara, the Congress party and the Congress government have proved that they are against Ram,” Joshi said.

“Nobody had demanded this. MP Manjunath had also written that the name should not be changed. But this is being done for vote bank politics and greed for real estate. Siddaramaiah says that if it is about Ram, he has Ram in his name. If that is the case, why are you doing this? I strongly condemn this and I request, demand and urge them to withdraw this proposal; otherwise, the BJP will oppose this and the local unit will agitate against it,” Joshi told ANI. (ANI)