UNITED: Leaders of political parties and social organisations, including leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh (third right) and Peetathipathi of the Sharanabasaveshwar Samasthan Poojya Sharanabasavappa Appa (fift h right) at the rally organised by the Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti in Gulbarga on Tuesday.

GULBARGA: The Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samithi (HKHS) on Tuesday held a rally at the Public Garden here to highlight its long-standing demand for an amendment to Article 371 to provide special reservation for people from backward regions in jobs and educational opportunities. The samithi has also been pressing for the implementation of the recommendations of the High Power Committee for the Redressal of Regional Imbalances. Members of all major political parties and student organisations participated in the rally, which was a shot in the arm for the organisation that has been spearheading the agitation for over a decade.

Until now, all demonstrations on the issue by the HKHS in the region were ignored by all the major political parties, and this had resulted in the agitation being carried forward by a small group of persons committed to the cause led by the former Minister and HKHS president Vaijnath Patil and the former MLA Hanumanthrao Desai.

However, on Tuesday, several senior leaders including Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh; Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi, MP; the former Minister Qamar-ul-Islam; B.R. Patil, MLA; M.Y. Patil, MLA; and the former Minister and freedom fighter Vishwanath Reddy Mudnal participated in the rally and expressed their support to the agitation. They paid compliments to Mr. Vaijnath Patil and his band of followers for carrying on the agitation for more than 10 years. Peetathipathi of the Sharanabasaveshwar Samasthan Poojya Sharanabasawappa Appa also participated in the rally.

Processions

Students from different colleges took out processions in the city in support of the agitation.

The rally passed a unanimous resolution, moved by former Joint Director, Department of Information and Publicity, Apparao Akkoni, urging the Union Government to take steps to amend Article 371 during the current budget session. They also passed a resolution urging the State Government to initiate concrete measures to implement the recommendations of the High Power Committee for Redressal of Regional Imbalances by providing adequate funds in the State Budget.

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