State govt to bifurcate Ballari to create new district

Bengaluru: Karnataka government has proposed to create new Vijayanagara district by carving out six taluks from the existing Ballari district.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has asked the Chief Secretary to place the proposal before the next cabinet meeting, official sources said on Thursday.

Once approved, Vijayanagara will become the 31st district in the state.

Anand Singh, one of the 17 disqualified MLAs whose rebellion led to the fall of the previous H D Kumaraswamy-led government, had cited the demand for a separate Vijayanagara district as one of the reasons for his resignation from Congress.

A delegation lead by Singh on Wednesday had met Yediyurappa and urged him to create a separate Vijayanagara district by bifurcating Ballari.

According to official sources, Yediyurappa said that keeping public and administrative interest in mind, it was necessary to create the new district with six out of 11 taluks in Ballari District with Hosapete as its headquarters.

Noting that some parts of the Ballari district were about 200 km away from the present headquarters, the Chief Minister said it was causing inconvenience to farmers, poor, labourers and common people.