HD Kumaraswamy at a news conference in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Union minister and JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy reiterated claims of irregularities in NICE Road project, claiming they caused a loss of around Rs 3 lakh crore to the state exchequer, and urged people to stop paying toll. The JH Patel govt entered a framework agreement (FWA) with NICEL in 1997,” he said. He alleged that Congress govt in 2004 disregarded the cabinet-approved FWA and changed the alignment and land use. Kumaraswamy alleged that the 2004 Outline Development Plan substantially altered the original FWA.
“NICE was not part of the project when the initial MoU was signed by the govt.
The changes, he said, came when DK Shivakumar was urban development minister and chairman of Bangalore-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Planning Authority (BMICPA). Kumaraswamy traced the project’s history from the time his father HD Deve Gowda was CM, saying the original Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor was very different from NICE project that eventually emerged.
Because they are unable to come to terms with the fact that Shivakumar has become chief minister, bengaluru development minister Krishna Byre Gowda hit back, saying opposition party members were making allegations. The war of words between the CM and Kumaraswamy over the NICE Road project and the Bidadi Township Project has continued ever since Shivakumar was made chief minister.