Basavaraj Bommai will return to Karnataka this evening. (File)
The government is not thinking or planning to propose a separate state of North Karnataka, state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured on Thursday.
"There is no thinking or proposal at the government level on a separate state of North Karnataka," Mr Bommai said.
Reacting to the statement of minister Umesh Katti on the issue of a separate state for North Karnataka, Mr Bommai said, "This is not the first time Umesh Katti has spoken about it. He has been saying it for many years. He himself should reply to this question."
Mr Katti has made the statements for the division of the state and urged for the formation of a separate state, from time to time. "Bangalore has become a centralized place for only the people of South Karnataka, while the ones in North Karnataka are suffering because of it, that's why we need a separate state, and that is our agenda," he had alleged.
During his address to the media persons at Karnataka Bhavan in the national capital, Mr Bommai asserted that he will probe into the matter of the poor quality of a road laid by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) right before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state in Bengaluru and Mysore.
Prime Minister Modi visited the state on June 20 for his two-day trip, where he inaugurated several developmental projects including the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, the campus of Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics University located in Jnanabharati Campus of the Bangalore University, and also laid the foundation stone for Bagchi-Parthasarathy Multi-Speciality hospital.
The road near the Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) was laid just a couple of days before Prime Minister Modi's visit to inaugurate the BASE campus. The Chief Minister has instructed the BBMP Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the shoddy work and take appropriate action against those responsible for it.
According to a preliminary inquiry, the road caved in due to leakage of a water pipe.
Meanwhile, Mr Bommai's visit gave rise to fresh speculation of changes in the state Cabinet. According to the tour programme released by his office, the Chief Minister reached New Delhi on Thursday afternoon and will return to Karnataka on Friday evening.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)