Gowda’s back to his old games but the mask is slipping badly

Gowda’s back to his old games but the mask is slipping badly
The Times of India

The smoke has cleared. The picture has become sharp. Now we know why the muchneeded Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, one of the biggest private-public partnership projects, is caught in a political cesspool. And why the Kumaraswamy government is keen on enacting a legislation to take over the project.

That politicians and bureaucrats own large tracts of land in and around the corridor, which includes an expressway and several townships en route. These worthies have been playing the farmers’ card and accusing the BMIC promoters of having usurped ‘excess’ land, just to protect their own land and cash in on the advantage of being close to the corridor. And mind you, they do not propose to hand over the land back to the farmers, but auction it and use the money for infrastructure projects. A clever ruse!

That Deve Gowda has begun calling the shots once again. He is doing exactly what he did during the Dharam Singh regime — putting hurdles before infrastructure projects by using the ‘farmer card’. Singh danced to his tunes then. Now, Kumaraswamy is at it. The image of IT city Bangalore took a severe beating during Singh’s regime. Infrastructure crumbled. The rural populace too didn’t receive any benefit, except loads of lip sympathy and crocodile tears.

That Kumaraswamy is caught in his own trap. That too after making a good beginning, keeping off his father’s brand of politics, and kindling hope in the hearts of citizens. The coalition partner BJP is in no mood to support him on the Bill to take over the BMIC project. Especially when the Supreme Court has come down heavily on the government for obstructing the project work. The project promoters are out to initiate contempt proceedings against him. And citizens are upset that he is speaking his father’s language. Kumaraswamy will find it difficult to extricate himself from the mess he has created.

That the JD(S)-BJP alliance is standing on the razor’s edge. The honeymoon period has come to an abrupt end. Gowda says the project promoters have won over some top BJP leaders. The saffron party is furious at this allegation. “We are against takeover of the entire project. We want the excess land to be given back to the people from whom it has been acquired. But JD(S) is keen on auctioning that land. We are opposed to it,’’ says Sadananda Gowda, state BJP chief. The Yediyurappa camp may be with Kumaraswamy. But others aren’t. They don’t mind supporting the government from outside. Or, run the government with outside support from JD(S). By this, they feel, they will not run the risk of facing the flak that Kumaraswamy is likely to receive from the people and the apex court. Moreover, most BJP leaders do not trust Deve Gowda. They know he hates them, but is keeping mum because of his son. He might create a situation wherein the BJP wouldn’t get a chance to head the government, Kumaraswamy’s assurances notwithstanding.

That Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) is set to move a contempt petition in the Supreme Court when it reopens on July 3. The government is certain it will receive another slap. Hence its urgency to introduce the Bill. What it fails to realise is that the legislation will affect adversely the private-public partnership concept. To settle scores with one company, why is the father-son duo out to destroy a concept, widely accepted the world over? In this urgency, the government sent a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to NICE, as ordered by the apex court. The cheque bounced, causing embarrassment to the CM. Not just that. The PWD then sent a letter to NICE to stop the opening of the first phase of the project on June 16, citing irregularities. That too boomeranged. The road was opened with a lot of fanfare and good public participation. The government kept off.

Why is Kumaraswamy bent on losing the goodwill he has earned? Industry is upset with him. Investors in PPP projects are worried. The presence of top Infosys officials at the BMIC inauguration site and their criticism of the Bill should serve as an eye-opener for the CM. Even Vijay Mallya has spoken out. “Everything here assumes a political connotation. The CM should spend time on developing the infrastructure instead of trying to protect his land on the corridor,’’ he said. Hopefully, better sense will prevail on the CM. He should drop this illadvised move and put all infrastructure projects on the fast track. Otherwise, Karnataka will end up being a big loser. Bangalore will lose its brand value.