CM distances govt. from Katti’s statement on division of State

Siddaramaiah terms Minister’s statement ‘betrayal’

A day after Minister Umesh Katti said that North Karnataka would become a separate State after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, triggering a controversy, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday sought to distance the government from the remarks of his ministerial colleague.

There is no thinking or proposal at the government level to carve out a separate state of North Karnataka, the Chief Minister told reporters in New Delhi.

Calling it the personal view of Mr. Katti, the Chief Minister cryptically said, “This is not the first time that Mr. Katti has spoken like this.”

On clarification sought by the Opposition on Mr. Katti’s remarks that about 50 new States, including that of North Karnataka, would be carved out in the country, Mr. Bommai said, “Mr. Katti himself should reply to this question.”

At Hassan, Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan told reporters, “Being in a responsible position, he should not make such statements. I condemn his statement on behalf of six-and-a-half crore people of the State”.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah took exception to Mr. Katti’s remarks that division of the State will be executed under the leadership of Mr. Modi. Describing this as “shocking”, he sought clarification from the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister.

Arguing that Mr. Katti would not have made such a statement if there was no discussion in this regard at the government level, Mr. Siddaramaiah demanded that Mr. Katti should be sacked from the ministry if his remarks were not true.