Unification of Karnataka
It was in these conditions that the movement that first started as a protest against linguistic oppression, began demanding the creation of a separate state consolidating all Kannada-speaking regions.
[citation needed] Important protagonists of the Ekikarana movement including Aluru Venkata Rao were from northern parts of Karnataka.
One of the earliest and most important organisations that was chosen to lead the movement, the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha also began in Dharwad.
Although resentment and protest had started as early as in 1856 and the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha had been established in 1890, the movement took a dramatic turn with the arrival of Aluru Venkata Rao on the scene.
Speaking at a meeting of the Sangha in 1903, Alur Venkata Rao made a case for integrating all Kannada regions of Madras Province and north Karnataka with Mysore kingdom.
Inspired by the Vidyavardhaka Sangha and the efforts of Deshpande, Aluru helped found the Kannada Sahitya Parishat in Bangalore in 1915.
During the Home Rule Movement, Aluru floated the idea of a Karnataka 'Provincial' unit of the Indian National Congress.
Apart from Aluru, supporters like Gudleppa Hallikeri, Siddappa Kambli, R H Deshpande, Rangarao Diwakar, Koujalgi Srinivasarao, Srinivas Rao Mangalvedhe, A. J. Doddameti,[2] Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, S Nijalingappa, T Mariyappa, Subramanya, Sowcar Chennaiah, H K Veerangowda, H C Dasappa, H. Siddaiah, K. R. Karanth, B. S. Kakkillaya, B. V. Kakkillaya and Anakru were by now prominent in the movement.
At this conference, which was presided over by V P Madhav Rao, a unanimous resolution was passed demanding the unification of all Kannada speaking areas.
In 1928, due to the efforts of Gudleppa Hallikeri, the formation of a single province by uniting all Kannada speaking areas was recommended by the Nehru Committee.
There was later support from literary figures like Kuvempu, Bendre, Gokak, S B Joshi, Betgeri Krishna Sharma, M Govinda Pai, Shivarama Karanth and Kayyara Kiyyanna Rai.
But the other leaders of the movement like Gangadharrao Deshpande, Rangarao Diwakar, Koujalgi Srinivasarao and Aluru advised him not to do so as they had boycotted the commission.
Gudlappa Hallikeri invited the Maharaja of Mysore to tour the Kannada speaking provinces of Bombay and Hyderabad.
This conference was inaugurated by Sardar Patel and attended by the likes of B. G. Kher, the then Chief Minister of Bombay presidency.
In his speech at the conference, Sardar Patel stated that the interests of all linguistic groups would be high on the list of priorities for the new government of independent India.
Leaders like Gudlappa Hallikeri, Kengal Hanumanthaiah, T Mariyappa, Subramanya, Sowcar Chennaiah, H K Veerangowda, H C Dasappa and H. Siddaiah attended this convention and urged the constituent assembly to create the linguistic states.
Kannada speaking areas were now grouped under five administrative units of the Bombay and Madras provinces, Kodagu, and the princely states of Mysore and Hyderabad.
The Akhila Karnataka Ekikarana Parishat met in Kasargod and reiterated the demand for a separate state for Kannadigas.
[3] While Karnataka became independent with the rest of the country on 15 August 1947, this did not occur in some parts of the state that were under the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Hyderabad consisted of large portions of what were later to be the north eastern districts of Bidar, Kalaburagi and Raichur of Karnataka state.
This was supported by literary figures as well as politicians like Gudlappa Hallikeri, Kengal Hanumantayya, S Nijalingappa and C M Poonacha, the Chief Minister of Kodagu.
In January 1953, at the Congress session in Hyderabad, a resolution was also passed favouring the creation of Andhra Pradesh but not Karnataka.
A. J. Doddameti, a senior Congress leader and the member of the Bombay assembly, immediately resigned from his seat and launched a hunger strike at Jakkali in Dharwad.
The SRC opposed the unification but its findings were ignored due to overwhelming support in favour from Mysoreans such as Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.
Congress leader Gudlappa Hallikeri furthered the cause of unification within his party by advocating for states based on linguistic demographics.
The ratification in parliament of the recommendations of the SRC was reacted to positively by Kannadiga people, although there was also disappointment at the non-inclusion of certain parts of Mysore state.
