BENGALURU, 26 JULY

The Karnataka Cabinet on Friday decided to rename neighbouring Ramanagara district as ‘Bengaluru South'.

The proposal to rename the district consisting of Ramanagara, Magadi, Kanakapura, Channapatna and Harohalli taluks had gained steam recently with a Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar-led delegation meeting the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and submitting him a memorandum to raise the pitch.

"We have decided to rename Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South....It is being done keeping in mind 'Brand Bengaluru' and based on the demand of the people there. The Revenue Department will start the process," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister, he said: "Only the name of the district will change, remaining all names (of taluks) will remain the same."

Ramanagara town, about 50 kms from here, will remain as the headquarters of the renamed district. "People of Ramanagara want to come under Brand Bengaluru. It is the opinion of people, people of the district and certain prominent personalities of the district that they want Brand Bengaluru," he said in response to a question.

Ramanagara is the home district of Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief. He represents Kanakapura Assembly segment in the district, and had first mooted the proposal in October last year.

Union Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister of the JD(S)-BJP coalition, when Ramanagara district was carved out in August 2007.

Taking a dig at the proposal, Kumaraswamy had recently said that he would reverse the plan, if implemented, in the event of him becoming Chief Minister again. Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister, had also alleged that the motive behind the proposal was to exploit real estate opportunities there. -PTI