Former Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna has urged the State government to retain the government agriculture college located at Karekere near Channarayapatna a subsidiary of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru, instead of shifting it to the proposed new university at Mandya.

In a press conference in Hassan on Wednesday, Mr. Revanna said the State government had decided to bring Hassan college under the purview of the new university. “The government should withdraw this decision. All four JD(S) MLAs of Hassan district have written to the Chief Minister in this regard. We will protest if the government does not change its decision. We will raise the issue in the assembly as well,” he said.

The former Minister maintained that the college had been affiliated with UAS in Bengaluru since the beginning. The UAS had a good reputation for its research and other activities. “We want the college to remain affiliated with the UAS Bengaluru. Earlier, there was an attempt to bring it under Shivamogga University. However, we opposed it and succeeded in retaining it with UAS Bengaluru,” he said.

Mr. Revanna said that earlier, when the JD(S) was in power, he proposed to set up a horticulture university in Hassan at Somanahalli in Hassan taluk. However, the successive governments did not show interest in this regard, he added.