Amidst massive speculation that a proposal was in the works to rename Karnataka’s Ramanagara district to ‘Nava Bengaluru,’ Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa dismissed all speculation and said that the state government has not approved any such proposal.
“An unnecessary discussion on renaming Ramanagara is underway. There is no proposal before the government over renaming the district. There is no such agenda before the government. It is a joke that JD(S) and Congress leaders are starting a fight over it,” Chief Minister Yediyurappa said.
Yediyurappa’s clarification came after Congress and JD(S) leaders criticised the government for mulling a proposal to rename the district. On Sunday, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter and criticised BS Yediyurappa’s government for mulling such a proposal.
In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy said that there was a plot to plunder the “golden land neighbouring Bengaluru city."
ಬಿಎಸ್ವೈ ಅವರೇ, ರಾಮನಗರದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಇಚ್ಛೆ ನಿಮಗಿದ್ದರೆ, ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗೆ ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಬಜೆಟ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೀಸಲಿಟ್ಟ ಹಣವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಸಾಕು. ಅದನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಮನಸ್ಸಿದ್ದರೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ನನ್ನ, ನನ್ನ ಜನರ ಸಹಕಾರ ಸದಾ ಇರಲಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಹೆಸರು ಬದಲಿಸಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ಅಸ್ಮಿತೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಕಿ ಇಡಬೇಡಿ.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) January 5, 2020
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“Yediyurappa avare, if you want to develop Ramanagara, you should release the funds I had allocated in my budget for the district. The people of Ramanagara and I will cooperate with you if you have a mind for development. But don't change the name of the district,” Kumaraswamy said.
Kumaraswamy ridiculed the proposal to rename the district for purposes of investment. “What is there in a name? By just calling Bengaluru is development possible? Can BSY who comes forward to change the name of Ramanagara, change the name of Shivamogga to Bengaluru?”
He said that renaming the district would lead to agricultural land “falling prey to North Indians".
“Every rich man in Bengaluru dreams of having land within a 100-km radius. In this, North Indians are big in number. That is why our land has fallen prey to farmhouses. The renaming of Ramanagaram helps these people and not farmers,” he said.
The controversy erupted after Deputy Chief Minister and Ramanagara district-in-charge minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan announced that a proposal was put before the CM to rename Ramanagara into Nava Bengaluru on Saturday.
Ramanagara city, the district headquarters of Ramanagara district, is located 50 km away from Bengaluru. The district was carved out of erstwhile Bengaluru Rural district in 2007 when HD Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister. DCM Ashwath Naraya had said that investors were reluctant to put their money into two-tier cities and Bengaluru city was getting crowded. He had said that the government planned to direct investment to construct hospitals and medical colleges in the district and convert it into a medical tourism hub.