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Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said on Saturday that the state government's intention in renaming Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South is to showcase the city as a good investment destination.
"What the government intends to do is to showcase Bengaluru for better investment opportunities. It is not just the renaming of Ramanagara; it is hardly an hour away from CBD (Central Business District) and if we can showcase a greater Bengaluru, it will be a good investment destination. There is nothing wrong with it," Priyank Kharge told ANI. The Karnataka cabinet on Friday approved the renaming of Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South, a decision followed by an announcement made by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. "The (state) cabinet has approved to rename Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South district," Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil announced, while addressing a press conference on Friday. DK Shivakumar claimed on Saturday that people are very happy with the government's decision and said that JD (S) leaders HD Kumaraswamy and HD Deve Gowda divided Ramanagara from Hassan when they were in power. "We are Bengaluru, whether it is Ramanagara, Channapatna or Kanakapura...HD Kumaraswamy and HD Deve Gowda have come from Hassan. They came and divided Ramanagara from Hassan...People are very happy and the world is looking at Bengaluru," he said. When asked about the state government clearing the proposal to have a fantasy park at KRS, he said, "The opposition doesn't know anything; it was an earlier proposal. HD Kumaraswamy has also looked into it. We are only trying to upgrade the park and it's a public-private partnership where it will be built." Meanwhile, voicing discontent with the Karnataka Government's decision to change the name of Ramanagara district to Bengaluru South, BJP MP from Karnataka Iranna Kadadi labelled it as a "political game" of the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister. "This is just due to the politics of the Deputy Chief Minister. They do not like Ram's name. Name change does not mean development. How much they have spent on development is something that should be told to the people...It is a political game," said BJP MP from Karnataka, Iranna Kadadi while speaking to ANI. Criticizing the move, BJP MP Lahar Singh Siroya questioned the necessity of the change and expressed concerns over the motives behind it. "Ramanagara is a good name, don't know what kind of allergy our Karnataka leaders have with the name 'Ram'...we don't have any objection towards naming it Bengaluru South but the kind of problems Bengaluru is facing like the situation of roads, shortage of drinking water and law and order issues...we just hope these issues don't reach Bengaluru South..." BJP MP Pralhad Joshi also condemned the decision, stating that the Congress party opposes "Ram," which is why they renamed Ramanagara district. "This shows their allergy towards Ram and Ram Mandir, even to the name of Ram. They are quite allergic. They used to do it while we were constructing the Ram Mandir. But with the decision to rename Ramanagara, the Congress party and the Congress Government have proven that they are against Ram. Nobody had demanded this. MP Manjunath had also written that the name should not be changed. But this is being done for vote bank politics and greed for real estate. Siddaramaiah says that when it comes to Ram, he has Ram in his name. If that is the case, why are you doing this? I strongly condemn this and I ask, demand and urge them to withdraw this proposal; otherwise, the BJP will strongly oppose this and the local unit will agitate for this," Joshi said while speaking to ANI. (ANI)
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