The chief minister led an all-party delegation from Karnataka to meet the prime minister to impress upon him the need for the special status for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
The chief minister later told reporters that “the prime minister gave a patient hearing and promised to look into the issues raised by us. The prime minister said he will take up the issues with the ministries concerned.”
The delegation demanded a constitutional amendment to ensure special status to the region consisting of Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal and Bellary on the lines of the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.
The delegation also requested the prime minister to look into the problems being faced by farmers involved in sericulture and arecanut farming. Cocoon prices have crashed in Karnataka after the Centre’s announcement to reduce import duty on silk from 30 per cent to 5 per cent while prices of areca nut have slumped as traders stopped lifting the produce following a Supreme Court ban on sale of gutka in plastic sachets.
The delegation urged the prime minister to increase the import duty on silk up to the previous level of 30 per cent. The leaders requested him to announce a minimum support price as a relief package to bail out the crisis-hit farmers. The delegation met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
The state leaders also met Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh and requested him to give environmental clearance to the Gundia Hydro Electric Power Project and the proposed thermal power projects of the State Government in Chhattisgarh and Edlapur in Karnataka.
Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Labour Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, former chief minister N Dharam Singh, Opposition leader in the assembly Siddaramaiah and some ministers of the state government were part of the delegation.