Bengaluru, June 22 (IANS). In a significant development, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar leads public debate on the controversial Bidadi Township project proposed near Bengaluru Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Responded to Kumaraswamy’s challenge. He has also been invited for a formal discussion at his office at Vidhana Soudha.
Shivakumar wrote a letter to Kumaraswamy on Monday inviting him to discuss the project in detail.
In a letter to the Union minister, Shivakumar said, “I look forward to discussing with you the Bidadi Township project started during your tenure. I invite you and five members of your team for a detailed discussion on June 26 at 11 am in my office at Vidhana Soudha.”
The move comes in response to Kumaraswamy’s recent challenge, in which he had sought a public debate on the township project. A political controversy has arisen in the state regarding this project.
The development is expected to generate a lot of interest in the political circles of Karnataka as both the leaders have traded sharp remarks at each other over the proposed township and acquisition of agricultural land for the project.
Earlier, Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar was challenged to a public debate on the controversial Bidadi Township project proposed near Bengaluru. He had claimed that farmers were opposing this project.
Addressing a press conference, Kumaraswamy said Shivakumar should come for a public debate on whether farmers agree with the project.
He said that whenever Shivakumar is ready, he is available. He said that even though the Deputy Chief Minister remains busy till midnight, he himself has asked him to spare some time for this issue.
He emphasized that women and senior citizens have been protesting for the last 450 days and suggested that they could also go there.
Alleging that the project would not provide any benefit to the public, Kumaraswamy claimed that it would achieve nothing except lining Shivakumar’s pockets.
He also announced legal action against the project. He informed that a legal team has been formed to investigate all aspects of the issue and in the next two-three days they will approach the court with all the relevant documents.
Referring to Congress leaders’ confidence of returning to power in 2028, Kumaraswamy remarked that they are claiming that the Congress government will return to power in 2028, but they should be prepared to go to jail first.
He said he did not know how many people would face consequences, but added that they had already opened an office in Bengaluru’s Nagarbhavi area. He asked him to first fix Bengaluru and also said that he was ready for any challenge and would never allow anyone to plunder government resources.
He admitted that the township proposal had come up when he was chief minister, but also said that it never progressed beyond the initial stage.
–IANS
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