Kalaburagi district saw many ups and downs in the year 2019. Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency, which was a Congress bastion for more than four decades, dealt former Union Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge a crushing defeat in the 2019 general elections. Mr. Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-time Lok Sabha member, was defeated by the BJP’s Umesh Jadhav by a margin of 95,000-odd votes. The veteran Congress leader had been undefeated in every election before 2019.
In February, the long-pending demand for the establishment of a Police Commissionerate in the district became a reality. The office was inaugurated by the then Home Minister M.B. Patil.
The year also saw red gram growers celebrate as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, accorded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for ‘Gulbarga tur dal’ in August.
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A long-pending demand of the people of Kalyana Karnataka and Gulbarga Bar Association was fulfilled with the inauguration of the Kalaburagi Bench of the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal (KSAT) in September.
On November 22, the greenfield Kalaburagi airport was opened to the public with Star Air commencing its operations between Kalaburagi and Bengaluru. The airport was inaugurated by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
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Herur (B) village of Afzalpur taluk was selected in the first phase of the Grama Vaastavya (village stay programme) by the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in June. However, the programme was cancelled because of downpour.
Loss of a leader
Kalaburagi district also expressed grief over the demise of former Minister Vaijanath Patil, who led from the front in the movement seeking a Constitutional amendment offering special status to Kalyana Karnataka (the erstwhile Hyderabad Karnataka) region. Mr. Patil led mass movements for more than two decades in the region.
Many of the projects announced by the State and Union governments for the Kalaburagi district are yet to take off yet. One among them is the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), which was sanctioned by the government in 2014. Similarly, Kalaburagi Railway Division sanctioned during the rule of the UPA government has not seen the light of day yet.
