BCC office, Belagavi
Belagavi : Regional commissioner K Janaki has directed deputy commissioner Mohammad Roshan to personally visit the Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) and ascertain the facts surrounding recent developments in the civic body, Kannada organisations said on Thursday.
They claimed that only 10 of the 35 members of the ruling party were present when the report was submitted.
“If it does neither, it should leave Karnataka and join Maharashtra,” the memorandum submitted to the regional commissioner stated. Despite repeated invitations from the mayor and deputy mayor, most members did not attend, they alleged. Kannada organisations further alleged that the reasons behind the civic body’s failure to adopt a resolution declaring Belagavi an integral part of Karnataka were being deliberately concealed. They accused the ruling party of betraying Kannada-speaking voters by failing to address their long-pending demands despite coming to power with their support. The organisations, which have campaigned on the issue for the past five months, demanded that the ruling party either reject their demand outright or pass a resolution affirming that Belagavi is an inseparable part of Karnataka.
The activists also criticised mayor Preeti Kamkar for allegedly breaking the tradition of the city’s first citizen welcoming the chief minister during visits to Belagavi. They noted that Kamkar, a Kannada-speaking mayor, was elected on a BJP ticket.