Statues of Kittur Rani Chennamma and Sangolli Rayanna to be installed in Suvarna Vidhana Soudha

PTI, Oct 2, 2022, 5:36 PM IST

The statues of Kittur Rani Chennamma and the military chief of Kittur Princely state Sangolli Rayanna will be installed at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi this year, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday.

The government has released Rs 50 crore grant to Kittur Development Authority, he said after launching ‘Kittur Chennammaji Vijaya Yatra’ in connection with the coming Kittur Utsav organised by district administration of Belagavi. ”The State government has released Rs 50 crore grant to Kittur Development Authority and the statues of Rani Chennamma and Sangolli Rayanna will be installed at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha this year,” Bommai added. He said it has been 24-25 years since the Kittur Utsav has been started and in between this festival was ‘limping’ now and then.

”But after the BJP government came to power an order was issued to celebrate this festival across the State,” the Chief Minister said.

According to him, the gazette published by Karnatak University, Dharwad has referred to Kittur Rani Chennamma as a brave queen who started the first freedom struggle. The same document will be sent to the National Archives to get it recorded in history. A decision has been taken to strengthen the existing but dilapidated Chennamma’s palace in Kittur and also build a new palace adjacent to it, Bommai said, adding several steps have been taken to develop Kittur as a tourist spot.