Former ZP president seeks second capital status

Kalaburagi Former Zilla Panchayat president Deepak Nag Punyashetty has urged the Karnataka government to declare Kalaburagi, the divisional headquarters of Kalyana Karnataka, as the state’s second capital. Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi, Punyashetty said Bengaluru is more than 600 km away from the city, making travel difficult for residents of the region who need to visit the state capital for administrative purposes. He said Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had recently announced 10 development missions during his visit to Kalaburagi for the Kalyana Karnataka Utsava. Punyashetty demanded that two more missions be announced, including declaring Kalaburagi the second capital and conducting the winter session of the state legislature in the city. He said such measures would help bring governance and administrative services closer to people in the northern districts. He pointed out that Kalaburagi already serves as the headquarters of the revenue division and has important offices, including those of the Regional Commissioner, Inspector General of Police, GESCOM and KKRTC. According to him, granting second capital status to the city would benefit people from Bidar, Raichur, Yadgir, Koppal, Vijayanagara and Ballari districts. Punyashetty also urged the government to name major government institutions after prominent leaders from the region. He suggested the names of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Chief Ministers Veerendra Patil and N. Dharam Singh, and late Bhimanna Khandre, former national president of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha. Leaders Gurulingappa Gowda Patil, Sakreppagowda Patil, Gurusharan Patil and Basavaraj Biradar were present at the press conference.