BENGALURU:
Information Technology industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai on Friday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in addressing Bengaluru’s infrastructure concerns, following which Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured that there will be large-scale road repair works in the city in the days to come.
Terming recent attempts by neighboring Telangana and Tamil Nadu to attract investors from Karnataka by criticizing physical and social infrastructure here as ”desperation”, Bommai said no one can stop the state’s progress, despite any number of such campaigns.
”Bengaluru paid second highest IT at 1.69 lcr in 21-22, but we are ignored by Delhi! Our roads are bad, traffic sucks, quality of life down @narendramodi Sir as our PM pl intervene and help,” Pai tweeted on April 7, tagging Bommai, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Also Read: Karnataka CM sees red after Mohandas Pai’s outburst against Bengaluru infrastructure
Bengaluru paid second highest IT at 1.69lcr in 21-22,but we are ignored by Delhi!Our roads are bad,traffic sucks,quality of life down @narendramodi Sir as our PM pl intervene andhelp @CMofKarnataka @BSBommai @nsitharaman @nitin_gadkari pic.twitter.com/ODzk4y10uY
— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) April 7, 2022
Responding to a question regarding Pai’s tweet, Bommai said the condition of roads in Bengaluru has improved, and it will further improve in the days to come.
”As rain (last year) continued (long) there was a bit of a problem. Now, there is marked improvement. In the coming one month, we will further improve. I will speak to him (Pai) personally. There is no such reason for worry,” he said.
”All the details are in the public domain as to how much kilometre we have (developed) and what we have done. I have released the amount under ‘Nagarothana” programmes and funds have been allocated in the BBMP budget, so there will be large-scale road repair works in the days to come,” he added.
Pai’s tweet comes close on the heels of Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao’s tweet asking an entrepreneur in Bengaluru to shift to Hyderabad, claiming better physical and social infrastructure there.
Also, Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan has reportedly said that his government is ready to welcome companies that want to move out of Karnataka amid growing communal tension in the BJP-ruled state.
Responding to a question on this, Bommai said Tamil Nadu and Telangana are ”very much desperate”, and one can’t compare Bengaluru and Karnataka with any other state or city.
”…what they are doing is not in good taste. We have to invite people to invest by projecting positive aspects of our state. There is no need to vilify the other state for it. I have not called those who have invested in Tamil Nadu and Telangana to come and invest here, that’s our strength. What they are doing shows that no one is coming to their states to invest, so they are calling people from here, it’s their weakness,” he said.
Further, stating that international investors are coming forward to invest in Karnataka, the Chief Minister said, in the days to come, large-scale investment is expected, and there are big proposals.
”There is a continuous flow of investments. In the last three quarters, Karnataka has received the highest investments in the country…,” he said.
Let Telangana and Tamil Nadu develop their own states, Karnataka is not against it, Bommai said, adding, ”Based on our own strength, infrastructure and talent resources, investors are coming here and will come in the future as well. No one can stop Karnataka’s progress, despite any number of campaigns, and I will ensure it by taking all necessary measures.” PTI
