Former Minister and BJP MLA S.A. Ramdas joined the debate on claims and counter-claims over the credit for the 10-lane expressway between Mysuru and Bengaluru and said the work on the project has been taken up with tax-payers’ money.
It may be mentioned here that Mysuru MP Pratap Simha’s statement claiming credit for bringing the Central government project had sparked a row with former Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, Congress party spokesperson M. Lakshmana as well as BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath countering the MP on the issue.
Mr. Ramdas on Monday sought to point out that the project, which is being implemented with the taxpayers’ money, belonged to the people of the country. One person cannot claim credit for the project, he said while pointing out that Centre, State government as well as local bodies had played a role in the project.
He said it the duty of the people’s representative to ensure that the funds are not wasted in the implementation of the project. He said he had constituted teams for each road in his constituency to ensure that the road works are carried out properly in his constituency.
Meanwhile, former MP and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Working President R. Dhruvanarayan said the expressway project was readied in 2013-14 when Congress was in power in Karnataka and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was at the helm in the Centre. The then Minister for Public Works H.C. Mahadevappa along with the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sent the project prepared by the State government to the then Union Surface Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes.
Mr. Dhruvanarayan said he and BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath, who was then a Congress MP representing Mysuru, too had made efforts for the project. Later, Mr. Pratap Simha too had worked for the project, he added.
