BJP to oppose steel bridge project in its current form

BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar Thursday said the party would oppose the plans of reviving the steel bridge project in the city in its current form regardless of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Minister D K Shivakumar's drama and stage-managing skills.

The steel flyover project was not only opposed by citizens, but also by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), he said in a statement here.

"I can assure the duo of Parameshwara and Shivakumar that regardless of all their stage-managing and drama, my party will oppose the project in its current form i.e. without the MPC developing an overall city-wide mobility plan...," he said.

The Congress' deep interest and love to solve transportation problems of the city has nothing to do for the benefit of citizens and consumers, but for the benefit of contractors and builders, Chandrasekhar alleged.

"Having seen the Congress rule in the state for the last five years and now this government in the past few months and having witnessed its exploitation of Bengaluru through contracts and misuse of public money and public assets, it is no surprise that no less a luminary than Shivakumar, a worthy successor of KJ George, has shown interest in the steel flyover," he said.

The BJP MP said it is not a political issue but an issue about the rights of those who live in Bengaluru and urged the government to engage citizens including him for an open and transparent discussion.

"If the government has the money to spend let us have an open, transparent discussion on what the priorities of spending public tax payers money should be. Me and several thousand citizens are prepared to engage in that form of discussion," he said.

Bengaluru under the Congress has seen expensive gold-plated projects like TenderSure and Steel Flyover catering to small VIP areas, while large parts of the city where common taxpayers reside, suffer from lack of proper basic road infrastructure, Chandrasekhar said.

Former BJP minister Katta Subramanya Naidu said his party had proposed an economical and eco-friendly flyover, which has been buried in the piles of files in the offices of Bengaluru's civic agencies.

The BJP, during its rule, had drafted a blueprint for a corridor for vehicular traffic and metro rail to connect the city with the Kempegowda International Airport, he added.