Bengaluru, 25 Oct 

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar slammed BJP MP Tejasvi Surya for opposing the Tunnel Road project. Shivakumar said the State government is not acquiring any land but using only a small parcel of land near Christ College and said that Lalbagh wouldn’t be affected by the massive project as it would go underground.

"It (tunnel road) will go inside (underground). At one side, we will utilise a portion of land temporarily. We will neatly convert it into park (once the project is over). We have to dig it inside. It cannot be done outside,” Shivakumar said after his Walk with Bengaluru initiative in Gandhi Park, Yeshwantpur. 

Surya has vocally opposed the Tunnel Road project, citing environmental concerns and lack of proper planning.  However, Shivakumar asserted that he will not yield to Surya at any point in time. 

Alleging that the BJP could not do any good work during their tenure, Shivakumar called Surya an “empty vessel”.

“Tunnels are bore beneath the earth and they don’t show up above. We can’t stop infrastructural projects because someone doesn’t want it. If tunnels are bad, why are they making tunnel projects in Mumbai and Delhi? Tejaswi Surya is an empty vessel and he hasn’t done anything for Bengaluru,” Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar alleged that despite being an MP, Surya could not get even Rs 10 sanctioned by PM Narendra Modi for the State.

"What has he done with the MPLAD funds? What was his plan of action when his party's government was there? Why couldn't he sort out traffic problem? Why he couldn't call tender for waste management? Why couldn't he widen the road, build flyover? He couldn't do anything," Shivakumar alleged.

Pointing to the cables hanging overhead menacingly across Bengaluru, the DyCM asked, "Why couldn't they (BJP) remove them? They joined hands with mafias and spoilt Bengaluru. Because of them Karnataka was ruined, so people gave us 140 seats (in the 224-member assembly)."

Asked about BJP’s threat to cancel the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) if it came to power, he said, “It is not in their destiny to come to power and change the GBA. If they don’t want GBA, let them boycott the upcoming elections.”

‘HDK, STOP HIT AND RUNS AND DEBATE ME’ 

Speaking to reporters at the City Civil Court, Shivakumar asked Union Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy to stop the “hit and run” criticisms about State government's move to allow conversions of B-Khata properties to A-Khata and come for an “open debate”.

“If Kumaraswamy has evidence of his allegations, let him present it before the people of the state. He has been given a position, let him present the facts before the people instead of threatening with pen drives and things like that,” the KPCC President said. 

"We are asking people to correct their property documents so that they can get loan from banks, so that we can provide good facilities to people. We discussed on this in detail," Shivakumar said on the B-Khata issue. 

Asked about Kumaraswamy’s statement that they will form the government after 2.5 years, he said, “I have heard this many a time. His party has come down to 18 seats under his leadership and it will fall to 8-9 seats in the next election.”