BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday invited Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy for a debate on the proposed Bidadi township project that the latter has been vehemently opposing.
“I am ready for a debate with Kumaraswamy on Bidadi township. Let the media decide the date. I had accepted the challenge when he was CM. I am inviting him for the debate even now,” he told reporters after inaugurating a Ram temple near Kanakapura.
He was responding to Kumaraswamy’s statement that the DK brothers must come for a debate on the project. “I am ready whenever Kumaraswamy is ready for the debate. Inform me three days before so that I can block my calendar. He (Kumaraswamy) is doing politics. It is not me who started this project, but it was him.
He has admitted that he had promised 800 sqft of land to farmers. We are only continuing with the project now,” he said, responding to Kumaraswamy’s statement that he won’t allow Bidadi township. “Neither Kumarswamy nor I are permanent here, but our decisions will be. It will greatly benefit future generations and they will remember us. We have widened the roads in my constituency and we have given a compensation of Rs 1,500 per sqft to them,” he said.
Will not allow land acquisition: HDK
Taking part in a protest against the Bidadi township project by farmers from various villages, including Bhyramangala and Kanchuganahalli, Kumaraswamy said he will not allow fertile agricultural land around Bidadi to be acquired illegally. “We will not allow even an inch of land to be acquired,” he said.
“Women farmers pleaded with me to save their land. The responsibility of saving this land of my sisters is mine. We will not leave an inch of land. Let us see how it is acquired. Governments come and go. But people are eternal. Governments should yield to public opinion. Otherwise, people know how to teach a lesson,” he added.