The statement by Public Works Minister and Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi that the State government is considering dividing Belagavi as it is seen to be a too big and unviable to govern district has attracted varied reactions with some leaders welcoming the proposal and others, including organisations, strongly opposing it.
BJP leaders, including MP Anna Saheb Jolle and MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi, have supported the idea. While Mr. Jolle has said that he welcomes the formation of a new Chikkodi district, Balachandra Jarkiholi has said that he will leave the inclusion of taluks to the State government.
The opposition has been equally strong. The reasons for the opposition are different, though. Kannada organisations have asked the government to drop the idea as it will reduce the mighty Belagavi district into three smaller, weaker units and strengthen the demand by Marathi groups that have been demanding the merger of Belagavi with Maharashtra.
Convenor of Kannada organisations Ashok Chandaragi recalled that similar proposals have been announced earlier and withdrawn by the State government. “We held a month-long protest in 1997 when then Chief Minister late J.H. Patel announced district division. We want the government to hold it till the Supreme Court decides on Maharashtra’s plea on the border issue,” he said.
“If, however, the government creates a smaller Belagavi district with surrounding taluks like Khanapur and Kittur, we will be supporting the cause of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti that wants Marathi-speaking areas to merge with Maharashtra,’‘ he said.
The other, more interesting demand has been to divide the district into four or five units so that bigger taluks become district headquarter towns.
Satish Jarkiholi announced on Independence Day that the district needs to be divided into three new ones by carving out Gokak and Chikkodi as districts. This will mean that the S-shaped district will be divided into three units in the north-east, east and south-west directions. The district in-charge Minister reasoned that the district with 14 taluks and 506 gram panchayats with over 1,500 habitations will be easier to govern if divided into smaller units.
He, however, said that the government will decide later, about issues such as how it will be carried out or which taluks will be included in which district.
Now, there are demands that Bailhongal, that has been a sub-divisional headquarter from the British times, should be made a district with Athani and Ramdurg, the taluks farthest from Belagavi, and even Raibag that lies on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border, included in it.
Members of the Bailhongal District Agitation Committee held a meeting on Monday, warning the State government against a unilateral decision about district division. They suspect that consolidation of political power is driving the plan to divide the district, rather than improving administration.
There are three Assistant Commissioners in the district, posted at Belagavi, Chikkodi and Bailhongal. If those two, Belagavi and Chikkodi, can be districts, then Bailhongal should also be made one. This is quite logical, committee president Shivarangan Bolannanavar has said.
He said that they will launch an agitation against the division. Sri Prabhu Neelakanth Swami, Mahantesh Turmuri, Madiwalappa Hooti and others were present. MLA Mahantesh Koujalagi has supported this demand.
MLA Raju Kage demanded that Athani be made a new district, not only dividing Belagavi, but also including Jamkhandi and Rabakavi Banahatti from Bagalkot district into it. MLA Laxman Savadi is on a tour of the U.S. He will return on September 9. “I will request him to lead a delegation from Athani to demand the formation of the new (Athani) district,” Mr. Kage said.
After delimitation of taluks, the State has 237 taluks in 31 districts, with the average number of taluks being seven.
The biggest districts in terms of number of taluks are Belagavi with 14, Vijayapura 13, Uttara Kannada 12, Kalaburagi 11 and Tumakuru with 10. The smallest district in the State, in terms of number of taluks, is Bengaluru Rural with four.
