Key Points

Refuting the allegations, Siddaramaiah said, "The state government has the power to rename Ramanagara as Bangalore South District."

He added that the opinion of the people in the area was sought before finalising the decision.

Speaking to reporters at the helipad in KR Nagar, Siddaramaiah responded to Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy's criticism that renaming Ramanagara district as Bangalore South distorts the district's history.

"The decision was taken after seeking the opinion of the people there," he added.

Taking a dig at Kumaraswamy, the Chief Minister also questioned, "Did he not think about the history of the district while creating Ramanagara district?"

Replying to reporters' questions regarding the Supreme Court's observation that the Enforcement Directorate is overstepping its bounds, he said that the ED and IT do not object to investigating or detecting black money transactions. However, ED and IT raids should not be carried out with political malice.

"The ED raid on the educational institution of current Home Minister G Parameshwara is politically motivated," he added.

He also said that it would be known only after examining the verdict regarding which case the Supreme Court had made such an observation.

Addressing concerns over rising rape cases in the state, the Chief Minister said strict action would be taken. However, he asserted that crime cases have decreased over the past year.

"Compared to the BJP period, the number of crimes has decreased during our government's tenure," Siddaramaiah said. He assured the public that the government would continue working to reduce crime significantly.

With Covid-19 cases rising in Singapore and Hong Kong, Siddaramaiah urged the central government to take immediate preventive measures.

"The central government is not taking any action to conduct COVID-19 tests on those arriving from abroad," he said. "There is a possibility of an increase in COVID-19 cases here too. The Centre should take quick decisions to take alert measures in this regard."

Commenting on the chargesheet filed against Deputy Chief Minister and former MP DK Suresh for donating to the Young India organisation, Siddaramaiah defended the act.

"It is not wrong to donate to any organisation," he stated, suggesting that the allegations were unwarranted.

On Thursday, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced that the Ramanagara district would be renamed 'Bengaluru South' for all administrative purposes.

- ANI