K'taka Cabinet renames Ramanagara as B'luru South

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday decided to rename Ramanagara district as ‘Bengaluru South'.

The proposal to rename the district consisting of Ramanag ara, Mag adi, Kanakapura, Channapatna and Harohalli taluks had gained steam with a Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar-led delegation meeting CM Siddaramaiah and submitting a memorandum to raise the pitch.

"We have decided to rename Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South....It is being done keeping in mind 'Brand Bengaluru' and based on the demand of the people there. The Revenue Department will start the process," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, he said: "Only the name of the district will change, remaining all names (of taluks) will remain the same."

Ramanagara town, about 50 kms from here, will remain the headquarters of the renamed district.

"People of Ramanagara want to come under Brand Bengaluru. It is the opinion of people of the district and prominent personalities that they want Brand Bengaluru," he said.

Ramanagara is the home district of Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief. He represents Kanakapura Assembly segment in the district, and had first mooted the proposal in October last year.

Union Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy was the CM of the JD(S)-BJP coalition, when Ramanagara district was carved out in August 2007.

Taking a dig at the proposal, Kumaraswamy had recently said that he would reverse the plan, if implemented, in the event of him becoming CM again. Ramanagara district is the political turf of Kumaraswamy as he has represented Ramanagara and Channapatna Assembly segments, and also had been an MP from the region.

The renaming has gained significance ahead of Channapatna bypoll -- the date for which is yet to be announced -- necessitated following Kumaraswamy's election to Lok Sabha.

JD(S), BJP unhappy with name change

A political storm is set to erupt over the renaming with the Opposition JD(S) and BJP opposing the Cabinet decision.

JD(S) state president and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said: “They can’t remove the name of Rama. If only they knew the history of Ramanagara, they wouldn’t have tinkered with it.”

The BJP alleged the Congress was trying to change the name due to their “anti-Ram” and “anti-Hindu” mindset.