Congress members took out a protest rally against price rise in Belagavi on Monday.
They gathered at Rani Channamma Circle and blocked the road for nearly an hour. They carried cylinders, held posters and shouted slogans against the Centre.
Lakshmi Hebbalkar, MLA, accused the BJP-led NDA government of lying to the people and deceiving them. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been trying to divert the attention of the people away from the real issues. The government is focusing on emotional issues while the common man is suffering from price rise of essential commodities. If this is their version of Achhe Din, we don’t want it,’’ she said. Leaders like Sarala Satpute, M.P. Dhananjay and others were present.
She demanded that Belagavi should be divided into three districts for administrative convenience. “The district is too large and unwieldy for officers to govern effectively. People from Athani, Nippani and Kagwad have to travel for hours to reach the district headquarters. This needs to be divided,” she said. She said Belagavi taluk should be divided too, for similar reasons.
“I have placed this demand before Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. I have told him to create a Belagavi rural taluk, with all offices. This would benefit the people and there is no politics behind this,” she said. She said that the Congress will take up such things once it comes to power in future.
