Is the North Karnataka region bracing for another agitation after the Lingayat movement, with the demand for a separate state gaining ground? A massive protest in Belagavi led by Lingayat pontiffs has threatened to call for a North Karnataka bandh on August 2 to demand better development of the region.
The bandh organisers, including seers, have warned of intensifying the demand for separate statehood if the JD(S)-Congress government of H.D. Kumaraswamy fails to respond to their demands. While the demand is an old one, its revival ahead of the Lok Sabha polls early next year is making the political parties jittery.
Kumaraswamy, who had dismissed as “baseless” allegations of neglecting North Karnataka and disparity in budget allocations, has now given an assurance of declaring Belagavi as the second state capital and also shifting some of the government departments to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi. Kumaraswamy also plans to hold a meeting of North Karnataka representatives to discuss the development plans soon.
The 'north-south' divide in Karnataka has been a contentious issue since the unification of the state, as people of 13 districts in North Karnataka have felt short-changed owing to regional disparity and Bengaluru-centric politics.
Vokkaliga versus Lingayat domination
The current crisis in North Karnataka is a result of the fight for political domination. While state politics has always been dominated by Vokkaligas in south Karnataka and Lingayats in the northern districts, the regions and the communities have been consciously backing JD(S) and the BJP, respectively, leaving the Congress party to fall back on 'Ahinda' (minorities, backward classes and dalits) voters.
Last week, Kumaraswamy, who was addressing a public gathering at his constituency (Channapatna) had stirred a hornet's nest when he charged that the farmers protesting at Koppal district for a total loan waiver had no moral right to ask for it. “Why did they [farmers of North Karnataka] not remember me during the elections? They voted on basis of caste and money. I have given them the same benefits extended to others in the state,” said Kumaraswamy. The chief minister was indirectly hitting back at the BJP leaders who had mocked his budget.
BJP leader Jagadish Shettar had said the budget had allocations only for Hassan, Ramanagara and Mysuru districts—all JD(S) strongholds. “It has totally neglected North Karnataka, coastal and Malnad regions,” said Shettar.
Kumaraswamy dismissed the allegations that he had neglected the North Karnataka region in the state budget, saying, “The entire state is being developed by the revenue generated in Bengaluru. The people of Bengaluru have also sacrificed their lands for the development of the city and are working as peons in the offices today. The North Karnataka region has got 65 per cent of the total revenue of the state. Now, if the region [North Karnataka] is declared as a separate state, can they generate revenue for their major projects like Upper Krishna Project?”
Kumaraswamy's remarks were perceived as an attempt at appeasing the Vokkaliga community, who are the traditional landowners in and around Bengaluru.
Ironically, given that the JD(S) has a very limited political presence in North Karnataka, it is feared Kumaraswamy's acerbic remarks would harm only the prospects of the Congress Party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Out of the 90 Assembly seats in the region, BJP holds 45 seats, Congress 38 and JD(S) only six. In the 27-member state cabinet, only eight ministers hail from North Karnataka.
The Congress leaders from North Karnataka region appealed to Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara to raise the issue in the coalition government's coordination committee to prevent further damage to the party's poll prospects. However, some senior Congress leaders like H.K. Patil too have expressed displeasure over “side-lining” of North Karnataka in the budget. But the party leadership warned its members to desist from “destabilising” the JD(S)-Congress coalition government and also slapped a show-cause notice on Patil.
The BJP is treading on the separate statehood issue with caution as North Karnataka is a crucial region for the party. BJP MLA from Molakalmuru, B. Sriramulu, who had initially threatened that “continued neglect” would lead to demand for a separate state, backtracked after a rap from the party leadership.
BJP state president and leader of the opposition B.S. Yeddyurappa, who rushed to Belagavi to meet the Lingayat pontiffs who were staging a dharna demanding better development of the region, advocated a Akhanda Karnataka (united Karnataka).
The pontiffs were furious at Kumaraswamy's remarks over North Karnataka getting a lion share of the revenue. “The CM should come and apologise to the pontiffs,” demanded Yeddyurappa.
Revival of an old demand
On October 11, 2012, then president Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in the border district of Belagavi. It was hoped that Belagavi would emerge as the second capital. While the subsequent governments managed to hold the winter session of the state legislature almost every year, the Soudha, built at a cost of Rs 450 crore, ended up as a white elephant as none of the departments were shifted to Belagavi.
Suvarna Soudha was built to send a strong message that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka and as a gesture to remove regional disparity. However, a coterie of politicians from the Bombay-Karnataka region are quietly nurturing a different aspiration—of having a separate state comprising seven districts of Bombay-Karnataka region and six districts of Hyderabad-Karnataka.
The contention of these politicians was that the regional disparity was profound. Tungabhadra river clearly demarcates these two distinct regions. If and when the Centre finally decides to carve a second state out of Karnataka, Belagavi can be the capital, said people advocating for a separate state. The road map for a separate state seems to have begun with setting up of a second High Court bench at Dharwad, followed by a legislature building at Belagavi, they add.
In 2015, the Union HRD ministry's decision to sanction a new IIT in Dharwad, too, sparked debate over "gross neglect" of the region as protesters claimed only polluting industries like thermal power plants were being set up in Hyderabad Karnataka but no academic centres of excellence.
The Congress is banking on the Hyderabad-Karnataka region for its political survival. The region with six backward districts (Bellary, Koppal, Raichur, Bidar, Gadag and Kalburgi) was accorded special status through a Constitutional amendment (Article 371J) during the UPA-2 regime, which provides for reservation in education and jobs and has an enhanced development fund of Rs 4,500 crore.
For now, the demand for a separate state has jolted the major political parties alike. Moreover, the plight of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation—which forced that state to move a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre recently—does not instil enough confidence to pursue the demand.
Vaijnath Patil, president of Hyderabad-Karnataka Horata Samiti, in Gulbarga, says, “We will support separate statehood demand only if the special status accorded to the region is not withdrawn.”