The appointment of K. Venkatesh, MLA for Periyapatna, Mysuru, as chairman of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has raised eyebrows in political circles as well as among activists. He takes over from Mahendra Jain, ACS, Urban Development Department, who held the position till Wednesday.
The move comes at a time when the BDA is spearheading the controversial steel flyover project on Ballari Road and is on a fund-mobilisation drive seeking to regularise over 3,600 acres of encroachments in the city. It is expected to earn over Rs. 5,000 crore from this.
Urban experts are critical of the fact that an MLA who is not from the city has been made chairman of the authority.
The last time a politician was chairman of the BDA was in 1997-99, under the J.H. Patel-led Janata Dal government. Incidentally, the then chairman, L.R. Shivarame Gowda, was an MLA for Nagamangala, Mandya. At the time, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was Deputy Chief Minister.
It was S.M. Krishna in 1999 who started the tradition of appointing senior bureaucrats — of the rank of additional secretary and higher — as the head of the BDA.
Mr. Venkatesh was one of the six MLAs who quit the Janata Dal (Secular) to join Mr. Siddaramaiah on the Ahinda platform in 2006, and later the Congress. The appointment comes just months after two of his close associates, Byrathi Basavaraj and S.T. Somashekhar, MLAs representing the city, were made members of the BDA board in June.
“It is clear from these appointments that the BDA is high on the political agenda of the Chief Minister,” said a former BDA commissioner.
“The BDA board chairman is not only party to all the decisions taken by the board but also decides the agenda to be placed before the board, along with the commissioner. Though he is not the executive head and should work only through the commissioner, the decisions taken by BDA will clearly have a political colour henceforth.”
In June, Byrathi Basavaraj and S.T. Somashekhar, MLAs, were made BDA board members
