Modi to form 50 states in India after LS polls?
June 24, 2022 00:30
A Karnataka Minister has said there will be 50 States in the country
after the 2024 general Lok Sabha election and north Karnataka will be
one among the new ones.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided
to form 50 states in the country after the 2024 elections. I came to
know that he is mulling over it," Umesh Katti, who holds the food, civil
supplies and consumer affairs, told reporters in Belagavi.
He said the
idea of splitting the State is good because the burden of population has
increased over the years.
"Such thought is good because population
is increasing, and that region (north Karnataka) should also see
development. North Karnataka should become a State and develop. We will
remain as Kannadigas but there is no harm if the State (Karnataka) is
divided," Katti said on the sidelines of an event.
Stating that the
idea of forming 50 States was good given the increase in population,
Katti said it has increased from two crore to 6.5 crore in the last 60
years.
Two States should be carved out of Karnataka, four in Uttar
Pradesh, three in Maharashtra, and so on, the minister said.
Reacting to Katti's statement, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said
there was no proposal at the government level for separate Statehood to
north Karnataka.
"This is not the first time Umesh Katti has spoken
about it. He has been saying it for many years. He himself should reply
to this question," the chief minister told reporters in New
Delhi.
Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said Katti's statement is not
an issue at all.
"Katti has been saying this. This is not the first time
that he has spoken about separate statehood to north Karnataka. He has
said it more than 100 times till now. Karnataka is one. Many Kannadigas
have struggled to form a united Karnataka," Ashoka said in Bengaluru.
He
added that Bommai would discuss with Katti on this issue. -- PTI