BENGALURU: A day after Deputy CM DK Shivakumar announced that Kanakapura will be included in Bengaluru, Opposition parties slammed him, saying that this will only help “his real estate mafia”. While BJP members pointed out that the government was not able to provide basic amenities to the newly added areas of Bengaluru, JDS leaders lashed out at Shivakumar for eying prime land.
Former deputy CM R Ashoka said it’s been more than 15 years that 110 villages were added to form the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, but even today, the government was not able to give good roads and water supply. “Shivakumar is a businessman first and a politician later,” he said.
Ashok said, “The City Development Plan is pending for the last ten years. Now, it looks like the government will include new areas according to its whims and fancies and sell them to developers.” They will change yellow and green zones according to their benefit, he added.
In a series of tweets, former CM HD Kumaraswamy said one needs to question his (Shivakumar) intention of including Kanakapura as part of Bengaluru. “Looks like he wants to acquire land from people in Kanakapura as the price has the value of gold and hand them over to builders.
Shivakumar is trying to safguard his properties,” he said. Hitting out at the DyCM for stating that Ramanagara was created as a district unnecessarily, he said in the last many years, Chikkaballapura, Chamarajanagara, Yadgir, Koppal and Gadag districts were formed. “Were they formed unnecessarily? The new districts were formed keeping people’s welfare in mind,” he said.
Kumaraswamy also said it is not possible to break Ramanagara and Shivakumar has to understand this. “Ramanagara district was formed scientifically. If Kanakapura is removed from Ramanagara, people there will revolt. Kanakapura is not any rock to be broken,” he said.