Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar
Credit: DH Photo
Justifying the government’s decision to rename Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said that it is the right of the people in the district to have it renamed as Bengaluru South.
Shivakumar said Ramanagara city will remain the district headquarters.
“This is our district. The people of Ramanagara, Channapatna, Kanakapura and Magadi are our people. H D Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy came here from Hassan, divided it from Bengaluru and gave it a different name,” the deputy chief minister said.
Shivakumar, however, said that the decision has been accepted by representatives across all parties.
“Legislators from all the parties are happy with the decision. It is Bengaluru South district and why should we lose the name?” he questioned. He even mentioned that he was a Zilla Panchayat member from Bengaluru.
The deputy chief minister, who led a delegation to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and submitted a memorandum to rename the Ramanagara district, said that when the entire world is looking at Bengaluru, why should the district lose the name?
‘Bengaluru is a brand’
“Look at the history and check what former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said about Bengaluru. Bengaluru is a brand and for the people of the district and the next generation, we have taken the decision,” he explained.
Hits back at HDK
Responding to a statement by Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy that he would rename Bengaluru South as Ramanagara later, Shivakumar said, “It is not in his fate to change the name. You record my words. Congress will come to power again in 2028 in the state.”
He said, “Kumaraswamy will always think of destroying me and he is doing politics every day only with that intention.”