SM Krishna: Why are roads of Bengaluru relaid only for investor's meet?
Bengaluru: Taking a swipe at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former external affairs minister, S. M. Krishna on Wednesday remarked in his inimitable style that the subject of Bengaluru’s development was not something which should be highlighted only to attract investors during the Invest Karnataka summit.
Speaking at a Yadava community leaders’ meeting organised here as part of the election campaign of Hebbal Congress candidate, Rehaman Sharief, Mr Krishna wondered aloud how the present ‘lightweight’ cabinet (of Mr Siddaramaiah) could compete with the ‘heavyweight’ cabinet of his(from 1999-2004) while taking bold steps to develop Bengaluru.
This is not the first time Mr Krishna has crossed swords with Mr Siddaramaiah. Two days before the BBMP polls held last year, Mr Krishna came down heavily on Mr Siddaramaiah in the guise of praising former CM late Devraj Urs.
The result-the Congress came a poor second to the BJP in the civic polls and won the mayoral polls only by tying up with the JD(S).
Mr Krishna said, “Bengaluru roads were relaid only at the time when the Invest Karnataka summit was about to commence. That is not how development should be envisioned. The state government needs to look at the city in a holistic manner. Just to attract investors, city roads were relaid only in places where VIP industrialists travelled. This is an unethical way of doing development," he said.
Indirectly referring to the Whitefield Rising movement, Mr Krishna said there are several roads which actually paint a very poor picture of Bengaluru and the state government needs to respond to such woes first.
"I did even convey this to Bengaluru development minister, K. J. George when he shared the shared dais with me," he said in response to a question by the media.
n Former external affairs minister, S.M. Krishna asserted that he was hale and healthy. Mr Krishna quipped that he was fed up of answering people asking him about his health on a regular basis.
"I do not understand why people ask such questions. I still have a lot many things to achieve in my life," he said.
