Former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA (Hukkeri), Umesh V. Katti demanded the State government to convene a special session of the legislature to declare separate statehood for the North Karnataka region immediately.
Speaking to newsmen here on Friday, Mr. Katti who renewed his demand for separate statehood for the region but could not get any support in his own party but now found allies in his rival Congress party - former minister Basavaraj Rayareddy, MLA Malikayya Guttedar, MLA and A.S. Patil Nadahalli, MLA, said the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continued to be indifferent to the developmental needs of North Karnataka.
Mr. Katti, who raised his demand for separate state tag for the region for the first time at the end of the joint legislature session held at the newly constructed Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, the second seat of the Karnataka Secretariat here in October 2012, said the government only made false promises but showed little concern to expedite the process of development and progress of the region.
He said the feeling of neglect, discrimination and step-motherly treatment under Congress regimes was now being voiced by the members of the ruling Congress as well.
