Mysore/Mysuru: Condemning the egg attack on the car of former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddharamaiah during his visit to Kodagu on Aug.18, BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath has called for the intervention of senior BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa for easing the tensions that have erupted following the incident.
Speaking to presspersons at his office in CADA premises here on Monday, Vishwanath said that no one should defend the egg pelting incident.
Asserting that the incident has been strongly condemned by leaders irrespective of their party affiliations, he said it is high time to stop debating unnecessary issues such as meat consumption, visiting temples after eating non-veg food and the like at a time when the State is reeling under natural calamities.
Stressing on the need for the Government to ensure that egg incident does not blow over from here, he recalled many instances in the past when stones, eggs, tomatoes, cowdung, footwear and such other articles were thrown at political leaders by the irate public.
Urging Siddharamaiah to call off his Madikeri Chalo in the better interests of the people of Kodagu, Vishwanath appealed the former CM not to give scope for any untoward incident.
Taking exemption to sidelining of a tall leader like Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first PM, during the just concluded 75th Independence Day celebrations, MLC Vishwanath alleged that Nehru was ignored only to bring Veer Savarkar to limelight.
Kodagu must have an exclusive Lok Sabha Constituency: MLC
Batting for an exclusive Lok Sabha (LS) seat for Kodagu, MLC Vishwanath appealed all political parties to support the cause of Kodagu Lok Sabha seat. Noting that Kodagu has been rattled by floods, rains and other natural calamities for the past few years, he said the people of the district have been suffering like never before. As such, the primary focus should be on addressing public issues, he said and appealed leaders to refrain from discussing about unnecessary and controversial issues.
Pointing out that earlier Kodagu was clubbed with Dakshina Kannada district for LS polls, he said Kodagu is now attached to Mysuru district. Hence, there is no separate identity for Kodagu in LS and announcing an exclusive LS Constituency for Kodagu would largely help in addressing the issues of the district.
Maintaining that the people of Kodagu are upset with both the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress, Vishwanath urged the Centre to announce an exclusive LS seat for Kodagu. Citing the example of North-Eastern States, where there are LS seats for just 3-4 lakh population, Vishwanath, himself a former Mysuru-Kodagu MP, said likewise, Kodagu too should have a LS seat under the present circumstances.
Asserting that both Mysuru and Kodagu are known for harmony and peace, he appealed everyone not to make any attempts to disrupt peace.
I repeated what I posted elsewhere.
The neglect of Kodagu dates back to 1950s, when Nijalingappa and other zealots were demanding for Karnataka unification following the disastrous policy of the Nehru government on the formation of linguistic states.
Kodagu was a very prosperous tiny state with people with a unique culture and the state had also unique geography recognised by the British and hence it was a separate state. Egged on by that Lingayat toadie Nijalingappa and his cabal of zealots, Kodagu CM, CM Poonacha opted for Karnataka unification putting Kodagu in the pile, which was unnecessary. Except bordering the then Mysore state-the Old Mysore, Kodagu had nothing in common with the Old Mysore in terms of language or culture. The so called Kannada-speaking territories of Maharashtra and Hyderabad, the former particularly were arid regions, with people speaking a strange Kannada dialect which Old Mysoreans laughed at. But yet, the merger of these arid regions into Old Mysore State took place, because the majority of people there were Lingayats, and Nijalingappa wanted more Lingayat MLA, to counter the Old Mysore State’s Gowdas population.
As a result, Lingayat MLAs from those regions relocated to Bangalore, and they did not care for Bangalore getting industrialised in a way it was not sustainable. CMs like BD Jatti and Veerendra Patil destroyed the Old Mysore State region, by diverting resources to their constituencies of the North-like Belgavi, Bijapur, Kalburgi and the like -arid regions, which were uninhabitable with burning Sun above!
Kodagu was subsumed by the Karnataka thus formed, and its neglect began. It had no prominent Lingayat politician who could become the CM of Karnataka. This beautiful region of wonderful nature’s gift with citrus fruits, became the victim of the massive neglect.
While we all sang listening to P KalingaRao’s : ” Udayavagali Namma Chekuva Kannada Nadu”, lyrics by a poet in the former Maharashtra region,
we knew then , even as as middle school students, from our parents, how Kodagu was going to be destroyed by the Karnataka unification.
I was born , brought up, studied and worked in Mysore city, I am not a Kodava, but some one who liked Kodagu , when visiting there on holidays, savouring its unique beauty.
The whole Karnataka unification policy was a political con game. It is proved to be destructive.
Time to regain the Old Mysore State, giving statehoods to former Maharashtra and Hyderabad regions which joined in 1950s, as well as Kodagu.
Kodagu as a state with its own CM and government has a chance of at least partly restoring the destruction the Karnataka unification hoisted on it.
The SOM Ganapathy should lead this political issue. Old Mysore State was a wonderful state to live in. It is not too late to to get it back.