Sirsi: The people under the banner of Sirsi District Struggle Committee staged a protest in the town on Saturday urging the State government to carve out a separate Sirsi district.

The protest rally which began from Old Bus Stand passed through the main thoroughfares of the town and a tyre was burnt at Zoo Circle to urge the government to form a separate Sirsi district. The agitators culminated in the premises of the assistant commissioner’s office and staged a protest for a while. The College students shouted slogans. A memorandum was submitted to Tahsildar Sridhar Mundalamani.

Sirsi District Struggle Committee President Upendra Pai said we have been staging a struggle for a separate district status for Sirsi for the past several years. We wish that our struggle should come to a head, he told.

Congress District President Bheemanna said we have not thought of dividing the district. But, a separate district is being demanded for the convenience of the common people and the administrative purpose. The new district should be announced in the ongoing winter session of the State Legislature. Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegade Kageri should try to convince the government on the need to carve out the new district, he told.

BJP Spokesperson Sadananda Bhat Nadagod said a clamour for the separate district status has got shot in the arm now and Kageri is trying at the government level for the separate district, he added.