Decision to give Tumkur to JDS will not reduce Cong's hold in seat: Deputy CM Parameshwara
Tumkur, Apr 14: Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has said the Congress' decision to cede the Tumkur Lok Sabha seat to coalition partner JDS will not reduce the party's hold in the constituency and that their ultimate goal is to see Rahul Gandhi becoming prime minister.
Former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda will take on former parliamentarian G S Basavaraj in Tumkur, which has changed hands between the Congress and the BJP in the past.
"The decision to allot the Tumkur constituency to Deve Gowda will not cut down the Congress' hold there. Our ultimate goal is to see Rahul Gandhi becoming the prime minister of India," Parameshwara told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of an election campaign event at Kolala village here.
Even Deve Gowda has expressed his desire to see Gandhi as prime minister, he added.
"There is a saying in English. It goes something like this - 'one has to accept defeat so that you don't break later' (sic). Therefore, I and my party decided not to field a candidate from Tumkur," he said.
Parameshwara and other local Congress leaders were earlier upset over the seat being denied to sitting MP Muddahanumegowda.
The deputy chief minister had to take a lot of heat from the Tumkur District Congress Committee for his inability to keep the seat for the party, while chairman of the coordination committee Siddaramaiah was successful in denying the Mysuru seat to the JDS despite pressure by the coalition partner.
Muddahanumegowda acknowledged that there was quite a ripple initially when the seat was given to the JDS, but after meeting Gandhi and the central leadership, he withdrew his nomination as an independent candidate.
"I met Rahul Gandhi and other leaders in Delhi. Gandhi told me to withdraw my nomination as a rebel candidate from Tumkur constituency. The scion told me 'you have to do that for India and its security and well being'. I immediately decided to withdraw and started helping Deve Gowda," he said.
The joint campaign trail of the coalition partners has witnessed tremendous response from people, Muddahanumegowda said.
"Having 30 years of political experience, I personally feel we are going to win this seat easily because the failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has percolated down to common people and villagers," he added.
The political pundits, however, say there's a tough battle on the cards for Deve Gowda as he is contesting from a Congress bastion amid disquiet in both his party and ally Congress over allocation of seats and tickets.
They, however, do acknowledge the former prime minister's potential to bounce back as he did by winning the Kanakapura by-election in 2002, after he had lost to G Puttaswamy Gowda of the Congress in 1999 from Hassan.
Candidates of the Congress and the BJP have won ten and four times from the same constituency. It was a Congress stronghold from 1952 to 1989, till the party lost ground to the BJP.
G S Basavaraj is the BJP candidate. He won the seat thrice on a Congress ticket and once as a BJP nominee. He was defeated by Muddahanumegowda in 2014 elections.
The Vokkaliga leader has fielded his grandsons Nikhil K and Prajwal Revanna from Mandya and Hassan respectively. This has apparently left some of the senior JDS leaders, who were hopeful of getting tickets, unhappy.
Tumkur district comes under the Old Mysore region. The JDS has not won an MP seat from there, but C N Bhaskarappa had won in 1996 as undivided Janata Dal candidate.
Tumkur constituency, a dryland region, is spread over 6,706 sq.km. It had 15,94,703 registered voters - 7,97,512 males and 7,97,191 females - till January 2019.
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Adani Group emerges lowest bidder for Bengaluru’s 16.75-km tunnel road project
Bengaluru: The Adani Group has become the lowest bidder for both packages of the proposed 16.75-km tunnel road project in Bengaluru, according to sources familiar with the bids opened by Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE).
According to a report published by Deccan Herald on Monday, the government estimated the entire project to cost Rs 17,698 crore, while the Adani Group has quoted Rs 22,267 crore. The ports-to-power conglomerate’s bid is about 24% higher for the first package and 28% higher for the second than the government’s estimates, a gap that could prompt authorities to seek the state Cabinet’s approval on the tenders’ fate.
M Maheshwar Rao, Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), who is also the Managing Director of B-SMILE, declined to comment.
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In all, four infrastructure companies had participated in the tenders for the project, which has been proposed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, with 40% funding from the government and the remaining investment to be raised by the private concessionaire.
During the technical evaluation, the Adani Group and the Hyderabad-based Vishwa Samudra Engineering Ltd qualified for the financial round.
According to the report, Dilip Buildcon was disqualified due to a clause that bars firms linked to collapsed bridges or tunnels, while Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) was rejected because its joint venture (JV) partner did not meet technical requirements.
With only two companies left in the fray, the Adani Group emerged as the lowest bidder, ahead of Vishwa Samudra.
The tunnel project officially named the North–South underground corridor, is part of the Congress government’s ambitious to ease Bengaluru’s traffic congestion by building two major underground roads (totalling 40 km) along with 13 flyovers and elevated corridors.
The project is the brainchild of Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru development minister.
The proposal, however, has faced criticism and political opposition, especially from senior BJP leaders, who object to the alignment that requires acquiring six acres of Lalbagh Botanical Garden, a historic green space.
As per the report, Urban mobility experts have also warned that the tunnel corridor may clash with the alignment of Namma Metro’s Phase 3A, possibly affecting the metro expansion.
