Congress leader Basavaraj Rayaraddi has criticised Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for proposing the bifurcation of VTU and the starting of a new technical university in Hassan. “This is clearly against the interest of North Karnataka. If this becomes a separate university, it will be starved of funds. The southern VTU will excel while the northern VTU will be shut. Bifurcation should not happen. If the CM does this, it will be a black spot on his career. I strongly oppose this,” he told presspersons in Belagavi on Monday.
He claimed to have spoken to Higher Education Minister G.T. Deve Gowda on the matter. “Mr. Gowda told me that he was helpless in this regard and that it was a decision taken by the CM and other senior leaders in the Ministry. This is unfortunate,” Mr. Rayaraddi, a former Higher Education Minister, said.
According to him, the CM and his brother H.D. Revanna had plotted bifurcation when they were staying in the university guesthouse in Belagavi during the winter session. “I also found out that the CM and the Vice-Chancellor Karisiddappa had hurriedly formed a committee about the bifurcation. But the committee recommended against bifurcation. Despite this, the CM wants to go head and divide the university,” he said.