Such a governance model is beyond human logic and only Congress chief ministers can do that. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has his strange ways. Probably, he is one of the few CMs in the country who tried to get a road in the state named after him.
As he completes two and a half years of his term, Siddaramaiah’s love for changing names is now new. A day back, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah gave a call for changing the name of Bengaluru’s Metro Rail to Basava Metro after social reformer Basavanna. He knew he couldn’t do it on his own, but said that the state government would recommend the same to the central government.
“I will recommend to the central government to name our metro as ‘Basava Metro’. If this were entirely a state government project, I would have announced it as such today itself,” Siddaramaiah said in a post on X.
He added that Basavanna’s principles of equality and coexistence remain timeless. “Basava preached tolerance and equal opportunity. I follow these values too,” the Chief Minister said, noting that he had taken his oath as Chief Minister on Basava Jayanti, vowing to fulfil Basavanna’s vision of equality.
Obviously, he made this announcement while attending the valedictory session of Basava Samskruti Abhiyana-2025 on Sunday. He also said that Lingayat was a separate religion, thus separating it from Hinduism.
This is not an isolated case, just some days back in September, CM Siddaramaiah was attending the annual feast at St Mary’s Basilica in the capital Bengaluru. There, he promised to recommend naming the upcoming Shivajinagar station of Bengaluru Metro after St Mary. His decision was then strongly criticised by a large number of Bangaloreans.
Probably due to Congress’s allergy towards the name of “Ram”, Siddaramaiah not very long back, through a cabinet decision, renamed the Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South. He decision was strongly criticised. Bangalore Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath even wrote to Siddaramaiah, asserting that it was not right on his part to change a name in such a manner. He said the name Ramanagara had emotional, religious, historical and mythological connections with the people.
And then who can forget Dec 2024, when Mysuru City Corporation proposed to rename the road in honour of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Though it did not fructify due to strong opposition from the people. The road in question was the 1.5-km stretch from Sri Lakshmi Venkataramana Swamy Temple Circle in Vontikoppal to Metagalli Royal Inn Junction is popularly known as KRS Road or the ‘Princess Road’. The road was proposed to be renamed as ‘Siddaramaiah Arogya Marga’.
But then, by renaming the places, Siddaramiah always believes in playing politics and dividing Hindu society. The very caste census underway in the state is no less than a ploy to divide Hindus.
