State formalises creation of Vijayanagara district

Bengaluru: The Karnataka state Cabinet on Friday formally approved the borders for the newly carved out Vijayanagara district from the existing Ballary district.

Vijayanagara will now be the 31st district in the State and will comprise six taluks -- Hospet, Harapanahalli, Hoovina Hadagali, Hagari Bommanahalli, Kotturu and Kudligi.

Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting here, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said that Hospet, located about 12 km from Hampi, will be the district headquarters.

"We will issue a notification in this regard soon," he said, adding that the remaining taluks will be part of the Ballari district.

The move comes as a boost to mining baron and Environment and Forests minister S. Anand Singh, who had championed the cause of a separate Vijayanagara district.

In September 2019, Yediyurappa had acknowledged Anand Singh's proposal for creating a new district. Ever since, there have been heated debates as several politicians and groups staunchly opposed the move.

The President of Kalyana Karnataka Horata Samiti, Hirigeri Pannaraj, said the organisation would launch a protest after holding a meeting on Saturday.

The BJP MLA representing Ballari city, G. Somashekhar Reddy, and G. Karunakar Reddy, both brothers of mining barron and Ballary strongman G. Janardhana Reddy, termed the proposal "selfish" and described it as one that Yediyurappa should not have agreed to. IANS