BENGALURU: The Congress candidates from Bengaluru on Wednesday released a ‘vision document’, a separate manifesto for the sustainable growth of the five Lok Sabha constituencies: Bangalore North, Central, South, and Rural, and Chikkaballapura.
Congress candidate for Bengaluru North, Prof MV Rajeev Gowda, said that the candidates have decided not to work as individual MPs but as a team for the development of the IT City. “After we get elected, we will go to Delhi and bring funds to ensure that there will be a triple engine working for the city—the Centre, the state, and the BBMP,” Prof Gowda, former Rajya Sabha member, said.
The vision document mentioned Rs 1 lakh crore special grant, urban job guarantee, secure water for the city, and running the suburban rail on the existing tracks. “I have been working on the field of urban mobility and fighting for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project since 2008. Under KRIDE, the project is running like an old goods train.
We will have to make as many people shift from private to public transport. Metro feeder buses proved to be a great success as Metro ridership increased,” he said. Steps will be taken to check the water tanker maffia, and the lakes in and around the city will be rejuvenated, Prof Gowda said, promising heritage walks to showcase the city’s legacy.
Congress Bengaluru South candidate Sowmya Reddy, who studied environment technology in the US, said that the efforts will be made to transform Bengaluru climate resilient by bringing in experts in the field.
The document also promised a decentralised and empowered BBMP, metropolitan city status for Bengaluru, tapping tourism potential through ‘namma sanskriti-namma hemme’, empowering women in the workforce, and launching ‘Invest Bengaluru’ on the lines of ‘Invest Karnataka’.