Dinesh Gundu Rao, four-time MLA from Gandhinagar in Bengaluru city, is a former Minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president. He says the city’s infrastructure improved vastly compared with five years ago.
How do you respond to the perception that the Congress has a disconnect with the urban voter?
I don’t agree. A lot of development works have been executed during the past five years. Works related to drinking water, drainage, footpaths, roads, garbage disposal, etc., were undertaken under the Nagarothana Fund in different cities and Bengaluru.
Do you think the welfare schemes will bring you votes in the city, given the Chief Minister’s overall image as more oriented to the rural voter?
Welfare schemes are making a big difference in the lives of the poor, migrants, lower middle class and slum dwellers of the city. For instance, we are giving subsidised breakfast, lunch and dinner in Indira Canteens to make the city free from hunger. The city has become more aspirational, so people from different parts of the State and outside come seeking jobs. Moreover, the city’s growth is much faster than that of any other city of the country. The State’s GDP is growing at 8.5% against the country’s GDP of 6.5%.
What have you done for a Bengalurian to vote for the Congress? There have been a few blunders like the steel flyover and mismanagement of garbage...
We have dropped the steel flyover project after public protest ... When we came to power in 2013, we inherited a legacy of mismanagement in the City Corporation. The BJP ruled the civic body by mortgaging public properties. We cleared all loans. We have improved waste management, set up sewage treatment plants, acquired land for garbage disposal.