Karnataka   

Mysore musings

Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) Chairman G.T. Deve Gowda, who was associated with the Janata Parivar for a long time, and shifted loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2008 Assembly elections, appears to be in no mood to give credit to his former colleagues in the Janata Dal (Secular) for his political conquests.

So much so that he attributed his victory as a Janata Dal (S) candidate from Hunsur Assembly constituency in Mysore during the 2004 elections to the “magnanimity” of Congress stalwart and the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna.

Participating in a function recently organised here to inaugurate a residential layout for journalists on land allotted during Mr. Krishna’s regime as Chief Minister, the KHB Chairman went public on how the “generosity” of Mr. Krishna helped him mobilise funds not only for financing the construction of his house in Mysore, but also successfully fight the 2004 Assembly elections from his native Hunsur.

Mr. Gowda said, “After losing the 1999 Assembly elections, I was no more than an ordinary former MLA. But when I approached Mr. Krishna, who was the Chief Minister then, for a residential site, he allotted me one measuring 50’ x 80’ in HSR layout in Bangalore.”

“However, when I started receiving notices for the repayment of the loan I had taken to construct my house, I decided to sell the site. The money I realised from it helped me not only clear my debts but also fight the 2004 elections,” Mr. Gowda revealed in the front of the gathering.

Mr. Gowda said that he was forced to disclose the episode and Mr. Krishna’s magnanimity in order to give a befitting reply to his political adversaries, who were claiming credit for grooming him in politics.

Do people travelling to Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahalli in the State capital prefer public transport to their own vehicles?

The answer is “yes”, according to Minister for Transport R. Ashok.

The Minister surprised the audience at a function organised to lay the foundation stone for a hi-tech truck terminus in Mysore recently when he stated that many people had started using the new Volvo buses named Vayu Vajra to reach the airport instead of their own cars, or taxis.

The reason, according to Mr. Ashok, was road safety and comfort.

The Minister went on to say that even industrialists had begun taking the Volvo buses to the airport for safety reasons.

People had switched over to buses for hassle-free travel even on some important routes where many corporate offices and IT companies were located in Bangalore, Mr. Ashok added.

A reporter, who was covering the function, perhaps could not comprehend the Minister’s assertion and was overheard asking another journalist, “Would industrialists and software professionals commute in KSRTC Volvo buses to the airport when they own luxury cars and can hire luxury taxis in seconds?

Is the Minister exaggerating Vayu Vajra’s popularity?”

Perhaps, the answer to this question lies with the Minister!

LAIQH A. KHAN

SHANKAR BENNUR

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