Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday said the party would return to power in the State by winning the 2023 Assembly polls and restore the glory of Bengaluru by turning it into the best city in the country.
He said this in acceptance of Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao’s challenge following the latter’s recent tweet asking an entrepreneur in Bengaluru to shift to Hyderabad, claiming better infrastructure there. “@ktrtrs (Rao), my friend, I accept your challenge. By the end of 2023, with Congress back in power in Karnataka, we will restore the glory of Bengaluru as India’s best city,” Shivakumar tweeted.
Replying to Shivakumar’s tweet, Rao said that let Hyderabad and Bengaluru compete healthily. “Dear @DKShivakumar Anna, I don’t know much about politics of Karnataka & who will win but challenge accepted Let Hyderabad & Bengaluru compete healthily on creating jobs for our youngsters & prosperity for our great nation. Let’s focus on infra, IT&BT, not on Halal & Hijab,” he tweeted.
On March 31, responding to a tweet by the entrepreneur Ravish Naresh complaining of infrastructure in Bengaluru, Rao asked him to “Pack your bags & move to Hyderabad.” “…We have better physical infrastructure & equally good social infrastructure. Our airport is 1 of the best & getting in & out of city is a breeze. More importantly our Govt’s focus is on 3 i Mantra; innovation, infrastructure & inclusive growth,” he tweeted.
Complaining about the roads and infrastructure, Naresh, who is founder-CEO of Khatabook, in a tweet, said, “Startups in HSR/Koramangala (India’s Sillicon Valley) are already generating billions of $ of taxes. Yet we have v bad roads, almost daily power cuts, poor quality water supply, unusable foot paths. Many rural areas now have better basic infra than India’s Silicon Valley” Also, the nearest airport is about three hours away in peak traffic, he complained.
Meanwhile, emphasising that the State of Karnataka does not underestimate the uniqueness of neighbouring States, Minister for IT/BT and S&T C N Ashwath Narayan on Sunday said the State believes in competing globally. Reacting to Telangana Minister’s tweet, he said, We are all Indians first. We are not intolerant of the progress of our neighbouring States. In India, every State has its own uniqueness. We firmly believe in entire India growing as one country.” Further stating that Karnataka is currently known worldover as a city of start-ups, innovation, science and technology, Narayan said Bengaluru has not earned this fame overnight and has its legacy which dates back to the regime of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (Maharaja of Mysuru), who set the foundation for establishing IISc in the city. Later, scientific visionaries like Sir C V Raman, C N R Rao, and Rajaramanna have contributed a lot to scientific and technological development, he said. “Considering all this, it is very much evident that Bengaluru’s fame is not dependent only its roads…I do not say the system is completely fool-proof. Yes, there may be some loopholes. But, the governments at the Centre and State are making all efforts to make the system more accountable than ever.”
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