The Gulbarga Bar Association has charged Municipal Administration Minister Qamarul Islam of failing to keep up his assurance of leading a delegation of the advocates and elected representatives from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra to plead for establishment of the Bench of the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) in Kalaburagi.
President of the Bar Association Vidyarani Bhat, addressing a joint press conference with leaders of different organisations here on Tuesday, said that the Minister, during his visit to Kalaburagi on Saturday, had promised to lead a delegation of elected representatives and advocates from the region to meet the Chief Minister and Law Minister on June 29.
“However, till this moment there is no word from the Minister or from his office about fixing up any meeting to discuss the KAT issue. When I contacted the Minister on Tuesday, he said that the day and time of the meeting with the Chief Minister and Law Minister is yet to be fixed,” said Ms Bhat. This only exhibits the insensitivity of the government and Minister to the problem,” he said. Ms. Bhat said that there was a need to intensify the agitation.
“Any agitation would not succeed unless all the sections of society participated. So, we have sought the support and cooperation of the trade, social, and farmers organisations for the cause,” she said.
She said all the organisations have extended their support to the Kalaburagi Bandh on Thursday. The bandh would be organised in a peaceful manner without giving room for any untoward incident, she said. President of the Karnataka Pranta Raita Sangha Maruti Manpade who was present said that Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge should take a lead in the agitation and speak to the Chief Minister to concede the demand for establishment of KAT Bench here immediately.
Secretary of the Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Amarnath Patil who was also present said that it was unfortunate that for every genuine demand, the people of Hyderabad Karnataka had to launch agitations. President of the District unit of the Karnataka State Government Employees Association Raju Lengti extended the association’s support to the bandh call.