Ramanagara Renamed Bengaluru South: Shivakumar’s Energy Play Sparks Conflict With Kumaraswamy
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Ramanagara district was referred to as Bangalore Rural district earlier than Kumaraswamy received the title modified to Ramanagara district when he was chief minister in 2006-08.
By renaming Ramanagara, Shivakumar has politically upstaged his archrival HD Kumaraswamy, union minister and Janata Dal Secular president. (Picture: PTI)
Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has quietly struck gold with the state cupboard determination to vary the title of Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South district. By getting clearance for what he has been pushing for a number of years, he has stored his phrase to the individuals of Bengaluru’s neighbouring district that they’d hit gold as soon as the shadow of Model Bengaluru falls on it with the title change.
And by doing so, he has politically upstaged his archrival HD Kumaraswamy, union minister and Janata Dal Secular president. Ramanagara district was referred to as Bangalore Rural district earlier than Kumaraswamy received the title modified to Ramanagara district when he was chief minister in 2006-08.
“Don’t promote your land in Ramanagara — it is going to flip to gold,” Shivakumar had suggested the locals in Ramanagara earlier this 12 months. The assertion now reads like a prelude to the cupboard’s approval, which has formally cleared the renaming of the district to Bengaluru South District and merging it prefer it was earlier than.
After the cupboard assembly cleared the proposal to rename Ramanagara, Shivakumar mentioned, “I’m completely satisfied to say that all the cupboard mentioned the problem. Ramanagara district was earlier a part of Bengaluru district. The headquarters will stay in Ramanagara, however the title will likely be modified to ‘Bengaluru South District’ for all administrative functions. Simply because it’s 30 km, 80 km, or 100 km away, it is going to nonetheless be referred to as Bengaluru South.”
The Political Battle
What started as a dispute over a reputation has now was a full-blown battle for land, legacy, and political dominance within the Vokkaliga heartland —simply 50 km from Karnataka’s capital.
Whereas Kumaraswamy accuses the Congress of “vendetta politics,” Shivakumar frames the transfer as development-focused governance.
The JD(S) accused Shivakumar of redrawing administrative boundaries purely for political and financial achieve. Clearly, the social gathering sees the transfer as a direct problem to its presence and Kumaraswamy’s affect within the Vokkaliga heartland.
JD(S)’s Kumaraswamy and Congress’s Shivakumar, each Vokkaligas, have lengthy been in a tussle to tilt Vokkaliga vote financial institution of their favour — a tussle that existed even when JD(S) was a coalition companion with the Congress, and one which intensified when JD(S) aligned with the NDA within the 2023 Meeting and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
As per the final census, Vokkaligas are the second largest group in Karnataka after the Lingayats and type near 14-15 per cent of the voting inhabitants. Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar are each influential Vokkaliga leaders.
“We’re from Bengaluru — why ought to we surrender our identification? You can not think about what your land will likely be value sooner or later. BJP and JD(S) leaders are criticising this transfer. However why did they (referring to Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy) go away their hometown and purchase lots of of acres of land right here,” he requested individuals in Ramanagara earlier this 12 months, concentrating on his political arch-rival Kumaraswamy.
The Deputy Chief Minister mentioned: “What was the value of land on this space 15 to twenty years in the past? How a lot is it now? Though I couldn’t offer you cash immediately, I’ve helped you by rising your property worth. That is how I’ve introduced change to your lives,” he claimed.
Kumaraswamy hit again, calling the Congress a “social gathering of looters” and Shivakumar the “chief of the pack.” Shivakumar responded to Kumaraswamy’s assertion, calling him a “pissed off” man who’s unable to play the a part of a “joker” in a coalition.
Shivakumar’s assertion referred to how the JD(S) aligned with whichever social gathering wanted a coalition companion to type the federal government. The JD(S) has partnered with each the BJP and the Congress — first in 2006, when Kumaraswamy turned CM underneath the 20-20 method. Nonetheless, in direction of the top of the time period, Kumaraswamy refused handy over energy to his BJP successor BS Yediyurappa, resulting in the autumn of the coalition authorities.
Once more, within the 2018 Karnataka Meeting elections, the JD(S), which emerged because the third-largest social gathering, entered a post-poll alliance with the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress, and Kumaraswamy was sworn in as Chief Minister on Might 23, 2018. Nonetheless, he misplaced energy when the BJP launched Operation Kamala, and 19 MLAs withdrew help from his authorities (13 from the Congress, 3 from the JD(S), BSP MLA Mahesh N, and a couple of Unbiased MLAs), inflicting the coalition authorities to fall as soon as once more.
“The try is to erase Kumaraswamy’s legacy and the event he dropped at the world,” mentioned a detailed affiliate of the Union minister on situation of anonymity. The district was initially carved out by Kumaraswamy’s coalition authorities in 2007.
The Renaming Legality
The renaming proposal was additionally pushed forward simply earlier than the 2024 Channapatna bypolls—a politically strategic transfer. Although the Centre rejected the renaming proposal, the Congress-led Karnataka authorities mentioned it could go forward with the choice, asserting that it was a “state matter.”
“Sending the proposal for the Centre’s approval was solely a formality. They rejected it, however we’re going forward as a result of the choice lies with the state authorities,” Income Minister Krishna Byre Gowda instructed News18.
He added that the Allahabad Excessive Court docket’s ruling on the renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj made it clear that naming or renaming locations is a state topic. “Land is a state topic underneath the Structure, and the state authorities has the prerogative in such issues,” Byre Gowda mentioned.
“The position of the Authorities of India, as I perceive it, is proscribed to sustaining a central registry — simply updating names of their information. That’s it. The substantive decision-making lies with the state. The Excessive Court docket judgment makes it clear,” the Income Minister mentioned.
Karnataka Legislation Minister HK Patil defined the authorized foundation for the choice:
“Article 7 of the Structure of India describes varied topics included within the Union Record. The topic of land in State Record merchandise 18 and land income in merchandise 45 are each State topics. Part (4) of the Karnataka Land Income Act, 1964, empowers the State Authorities to create, alter, abolish, or rename zones, taluks, and districts. Therefore, this proposal was submitted,” he mentioned.
‘Vendetta Politics’
The rejection by the Union Dwelling Ministry triggered a recent political tussle. Shivakumar claimed the transfer was blocked resulting from objections raised by Kumaraswamy. Kumaraswamy and the BJP, in flip, referred to as the choice to merge Ramanagara into Bengaluru South a “design of the Congress authorities that signifies their hatred in direction of Lord Rama and a lure for actual property.”
For Shivakumar, nonetheless, the choice to rename Ramanagara as Bengaluru South district is each symbolic and strategic. By tethering Kanakapura — his residence constituency — and adjoining areas extra intently to Bengaluru, he’s positioning himself as the important thing chief of an important city–rural hall. This boosts his political clout and strengthens his hand within the Vokkaliga heartland.
Kumaraswamy had additionally not too long ago lashed out at each Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, accusing them of misusing their energy to “harass” him and threatening to reveal alleged corruption. The set off was the federal government’s transfer to clear encroachments at Kethaganahalli close to Bidadi, which is linked to Kumaraswamy’s household.
“That is pure vendetta politics,” Kumaraswamy mentioned, warning the Congress to not provoke him. “I’ve sufficient materials to tackle this authorities.”
Shivakumar dismissed the fees, daring Kumaraswamy to launch no matter paperwork he claimed to own. “I’m not afraid of Kumaraswamy or anybody else. Let him convey out no matter he has,” he mentioned.
The Channapatna bypoll which was held in November 2024 additional tilted the scales. Veteran politician CP Yogeshwar, who defected to the Congress from the BJP simply days earlier than the bypoll, gained the seat by over 25,000 votes, defeating Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil.
The JD(S) chief had pushed for his son Nikhil to contest once more, which the Congress dubbed “Putra-moh” (obsession with one’s son) as Nikhil had earlier contested two elections Mandya (2019 Lok Sabha) and Ramanagara (2023 Meeting) and misplaced each. He misplaced the third time as effectively after he contested from Channapatna, his father Kumaraswamy’s seat, to Yogeshwar.
In the meantime, the BJP has additionally pointed a pointy assault on Shivakumar. Chief of the Opposition R Ashoka alleged that the Bidadi Township Venture, positioned in Ramanagara, was a rip-off designed by Congress leaders to inflate land costs.
At a protest in opposition to land acquisition underneath the Better Bengaluru Authority, which was not too long ago shaped on Might 15, Ashoka claimed that 3,000 acres have been being acquired to allow a “land loot” by Shivakumar. He additionally warned of a second NICE Street-like challenge that might seize as much as 30,000 acres extra of land from farmers within the space.
“Farmers will likely be ruined. Ninety-five p.c of them will endure losses. Their kids may have nothing left,” he mentioned, accusing Shivakumar of turning governance into an actual property racket.
Ashoka additionally questioned whether or not Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had been “instructed” by Rahul Gandhi to drop the title Rama from Ramanagara, as a part of the merging with Bangalore, or if the transfer was linked to an actual property agenda within the district, following the MUDA land controversy in Mysuru.
Ashoka focused Shivakumar, asking whether or not the renaming was a option to settle scores after his brother DK Suresh was defeated by the coalition within the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency, which incorporates Ramanagara district.
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