Pot calls the kettle black

After all he did, as Union Civil Aviation Minister, to undo the Tatas' effort at setting up the Bangalore International Airport and Tata Airlines, based there, Ananth Kumar has some gall to accuse the JD (S) of delaying the international airport.



Metro rail: BJP to launch public campaign
Deccan Herald

Terming former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s reservationS on metro rail project as an ‘anti-Bangalore’ stand, BJP national general Secretary Ananth Kumar on Saturday declared that his party would launch a public campaign for implementation of the project. BJP MPs and MLAs from the Bangalore city would lead such a campaign.

Addressing a press conference in Bangalore, Mr Ananth Kumar cautioned that the party would elicit the opinion of people on the Metro rail project even if the coalition government stopped the project.

Launching a veiled attack against Mr Gowda, he remarked that “those who delayed the international airport project are now trying to stall the Metro rail project.”

Mr Kumar also refuted Mr Gowda’s allegations that the State Cabinet had only given ‘in-principle’ clearance to the Metro rail project. He circulated copies of a government order indicating complete clearance to the project and asked Mr Gowda to study the documents.

On preferring Mono rail to Metro, Mr Kumar argued that Mono rail was being used in different countries only to take care of light traffic in parks, Zoological gardens, amusement parks and university campuses. No major city was using mono rail as a mass rapid transit system.

Denying allegations that the proposed Metro rail may not have large number of users, he said according to the Detailed Project Report (DPR), 20 per cent of Bangalore’s total 40 lakh commuters were expected to use the Metro in the first year of operation.

According to a study, the Mono rail could handle only 15,000 to 18,000 Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic (PHPDT) in Bangalore as against 80,000 PHPDT of Metro, he said.

However, Mr Kumar evaded a direct reply when he was reminded that his own party vice-president Ramachandre Gowda had opposed the Metro rail project.