Keep aside politics and join hands with Centre for development, Deve Gowda appeals to State govt.

Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has appealed to the State government to join hands with the Centre for development, keeping aside politics.

He stressed the need for expanding the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor project up to Mangaluru, which would help many districts, including Hassan.

In a press conference in Hassan on Sunday, Mr. Deve Gowda said: “I wish the State government takes up this proposal with the Centre, so that it is included in the next Budget. I will also make efforts in this regard at the Centre”.

The former Prime Minister said that in his 65-year-long political career he had worked for the development of the State.

“We should not do politics over development of the State. Let us do politics at the time of elections. I don’t want to get into history. Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and me worked together. Now, we are not together. I will not get into the differences. I wish to bring to the notice of the State government that if the corridor is expanded, Hassan will get benefits. Compared to other districts, Hassan lags behind. While other districts got an airport, Hassan has not yet got one,” he stated.

Mr. Deve Gowda said his son and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy wanted to revive HMT in Bengaluru and the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL) in Bhadravati.

“He wants to build a factory on HMT land and proposed to invest ₹20,000 to revive VISL in Bhadravati. The State government should cooperate with him, keeping aside all differences,” he said.

Regarding Shiradi Ghat, Mr. Deve Gowda said that when Oscar Fernandes was the Transport Minister, he had proposed to take up the tunnel project.

“There was opposition to give the forest land for the project. Once the tunnel is constructed, trees can be grown above the tunnel. The project should be taken up,” he stated.

On the Cauvery dispute, Mr. Deve Gowda said that he had brought it to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on how Tamil Nadu benefited and Karnataka suffered with regard to the sharing of the Cauvery waters.

“The tribunal allocated the Cauvery waters to Bengaluru considering the population of the city as per the 1981 Census. Then the population was around 90 lakh and now it is above 1.5 crore,” he noted.

Further, he maintained that he would continue to fight for the development of the State, despite his age. “At 93, I came here with the help of a wheelchair. Similarly, I will go to Parliament on a wheelchair and continue to work for the State. My term as Rajya Sabha member ends in the next 11 months. However, I will continue to work and will not retire,” he added.

Legislator Swaroop Prakash, former MLA K.S. Lingesh and others were present.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Deve Gowda visited Mosale Hosahalli in Hassan, where an accident occurred on Friday. He also met the family members of Gokul, Eshwar, Prabhakar, Praveen, and Kumar, who were among those who died in the accident. As many as 10 people died in the incident.