In a clear move to get people of the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region on its side before the 2013 Assembly polls, which is less than ten months away, the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre has decided to grant special status to the region, meeting a long-pending demand.
Hyderabad-Karnataka and the rest of north Karnataka have been BJP strongholds with a huge Lingayat community presence for decades. The saffron party swept to power in the 2008 Assembly polls, riding on a pro-Lingayat wave of support in the region with Lingayat strongman B.S. Yeddyurappa becoming chief minister.
The Congress hopes to upset the BJP’s calculations in the next polls by harping on the fact that it has fulfilled the dream of people of the region by securing them the special status.
The move is also expected to garner the Congress — the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh — the support of people in the AP districts neighouring Hyderabad-Karnataka, where the YSR Congress of Jagan Mohan Reddy has emerged as a formidable force and could spoil Congress chances in the Assembly polls in that state.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) decided to amend Article 371 of the Constitution by moving a Bill in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament to grant the region special status to help in faster development.
Welcoming the decision, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna said it would meet the long-pending demands of people of north Karnataka.
The amendment will help in providing reservation in education and employment for people of Hyderabad Karnataka. There would also be provisions for the economic development of the region, with special focus on infrastructure.
All districts in the Gulbarga revenue division such as Gulbarga, Yadgir, Bidar, Bellary, Raichur and Koppal, would benefit from the move which will result in a flow of huge funds into the region, said sources.
People of the six north Karnataka districts - Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal and Bellary - welcomed the Centre's decision by bursting crackers.