BENGALURU: Just as the Congress high command resolved the issue of senior leader and Water Resources Minister Ramalinga Reddy by convincing him to withdraw his resignation, Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda reportedly went into a sulk as his portfolio is devoid of the prominent Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA). Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has retained his hold on BDA and BMRDA.
Sources said Gowda spoke to LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over phone, apprising him that without BDA and BMRDA, the portfolio lacks significance.
There is no scope or potential to deliver the goods, and he doesn’t want to be the manager of five city corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), including Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, Bengaluru East, Bengaluru West and Bengaluru Central city corporations. BWSSB and BMRCL are also part of his portfolio.
This is the reason he has not taken charge of Bengaluru Development as yet and is anticipating a call from the high command, sources said. As the CM is unlikely to give up BDA and BMRDA, Gowda will seek a change in portfolio. The issue has also been brought to the notice of AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, sources said.
The Bengaluru Development portfolio has caused much heartburn. Ramalinga Reddy had resigned, insisting that it had been promised to him by CM Shivakumar. But after several rounds of talks, the high command humbled Reddy who eventually took charge but with the condition that during cabinet expansion, he should be allotted an additional portfolio or a separate one.
Sources within the Congress government told The New Indian Express that Krishna Byre Gowda’s name was not on the first list of 13 ministers sworn in last Wednesday, as there was a lobby against him. As Revenue Minister in the Siddaramaiah regime, Gowda had executed the clearance of illegal encroachments on government lands, about 50 acres worth hundreds of crores of rupees in and around Bengaluru.
It did not go down well with some legislators, including Congress leaders, sources informed. Which is why Gowda paid the price and lost the Revenue portfolio in the new regime, despite revolutionising the department, they added. The counselling system in transfer of sub-registrars and assistant commissioners left many leaders red-faced as there was no scope for influence, sources elaborated.
Byre Gowda met Shivakumar at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) office at Vidhana Soudha and held talks. Later, he refused to react to the media, saying his meeting was to do with the party and government, and the media has the liberty to interpret his meeting. But sources said his meeting revolved around the Bengaluru development portfolio and he insisted that BDA and BMRDA should be incorporated in it.
