Vijaynagara becomes Karnataka’s latest and 31st district

Governance

The iconic cluster of monuments at Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site, will be part of the new district, Vijaynagara.

IANS

PTI

On Monday, the Karnataka government issued an official gazette notification announcing Vijaynagara as the state’s 31st district, which was carved out of the ore-rich Bellary. Vijaynagara will have six taluks: Hosapete, Kudligi, Hagaribommana Halli, Kotturu, Hoovina Hadagali and Harapanahalli. Bellary district, on the other hand, will have five taluks — Ballari, Kurugodu, Siraguppa, Kampli and Sanduru, with Bellary taluk as its headquarters. The iconic cluster of monuments at Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site, will be part of the new district, Vijaynagara. On November 18 last year, the state cabinet had given in-principle approval for creation of Vijayanagara district. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa wrote to Chief Secretary in September 2019, stating that keeping public and administrative interest in mind, it was necessary to create the new district; noting that some parts of the Bellary district were about 200 km from the present headquarters.  However, the government's plan to create Vijayanagara district had run into opposition, especially from within the party, including BJP MLA Somashekar Reddy. Minister for Infrastructure Development, Haj and Wakf, Anand Singh, who is also the Bellary district in-charge, had anchored the efforts for the new district. In his bid to bifurcate Bellary and Vijaynagara, Singh ran into a feud with the Reddy brothers — G Janardhana Reddy, G Karunakara Reddy and G Somashekara Reddy. Anand Singh, who contested from Congress in 2018, had deserted BJP but re-joined a year later in 2019. His demand for the new district then began taking shape. Many within the ruling BJP had criticised the move in 2019, stating the decision to create a new district was being taken under pressure from Singh, in return for his role in BJP coming to power. Singh is one of the 17 MLAs who defected that led to the fall of the previous HD Kumaraswamy led Congress-JD(S) coalition government. He had cited the demand for a separate Vijayanagara district as one of the reasons for his resignation from the Congress. Undivided Bellary was politically significant, comprising nine Assembly constituencies, of which the Congress represents five constituencies and the BJP has four constituencies.

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