Belgaum to be made second capital of Karnataka

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has declared that the Belgaum will become the state capital of the State.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for a Rs 2.3 billion Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, state secretariat building, on 36 acres of land at Vaccine Depot in the heart of Belgaum, Kumaraswamy said Belgaum City would enjoy the official status of the second capital of the State.

He said the Government would hold at least one legislature session in Belgaum every year and expedite the development works in the entire north Karnataka region.

Karnataka’s decision to accord Belgaum as the second capital of the State and to construct a Vidhana Soudha in the City assumes significance in view of the unresolved dispute between Karnataka and neighbouring Maharashtra over the border district of Belgaum.

Kumaraswamy also used the occasion to promote amity among the Kannada and Marathi speaking populace of the region by warning the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) and the Maharashtra Government against jeopardizing the cordial relations nurtured by Kannada and Marathi speaking people of the region since centuries.

Asserting Karnataka’s hold over Belgaum, Kumaraswamy said the border district of Belgaum will remain an integral part of Karnataka. “It is unfair on the part of the MES to demand the merger of Belgaum with Maharashtra to meet its selfish ends”, he said.

“If the activities of MES or other forces are against the interests of Belgaum and Karnataka, we are capable of uprooting them”,

Kumaraswamy also came down heavily on Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil for delivering an “inflammatory” speech during a convention organized by MES in Belgaum last year. Claiming that Patil went away to the safety of Maharashtra after inciting parochial feelings among the people of the region, Kumaraswamy said responsible leaders should bear in mind that natives of Belgaum, who speak Kannada and Marathi, should live together.

It may also be mentioned here that Karnataka’s decision to Belgaum the status of a second capital comes close on the heels of the Federal Government’s refusal to permit Karnataka to rename Belgaum as Belagavi in view of the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.