Chief minister DK Shivakumar at the meeting with Bengaluru MLAs on Tuesday
Bengaluru: Chief minister DK Shivakumar said he will hold a series of meetings with Karnataka legislators, including those from the opposition, over the next few weeks, grouping them by caste and regional backgrounds. Speaking to reporters in Belagavi, Shivakumar said: “I will soon meet with SC/ST legislators, after which I will meet with OBC, minority, Lingayat and Vokkaliga legislators. However, an opposition legislator said the meeting focused on long-term projects rather than immediate measures for constituency development. “We were in a room where the CM and minister in charge of Bengaluru (Krishna Byre Gowda) spoke about their long-term ambitions and projects but did not utter a single word on short-term measures the govt will take to develop constituencies,” said one opposition legislator. Meanwhile, Congress MLAs said the meeting sought to bring legislators across parties together and explain govt’s plans for major infrastructure projects. “Politics aside, the CM and govt tried to explain to opposition legislators the intent of big-ticket projects like the tunnel road, infrastructure projects and Metro expansion,” said a Congress MLA.
The meetings are aimed at understanding legislators’ concerns and gauging their communities’ perception of the Congress govt.