Bengaluru, Aug 10 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Sunday that the state’s contribution to Bengaluru’s Namma Metro was 80 per cent while that of the Centre was only 20 per cent.

Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence, he said, “I will appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide at least Rs 1 lakh crore for Bengaluru. The Centre was supposed to bear 50 per cent of the land acquisition cost for the Metro project but it hasn’t given. However, we completed the project in the interest of the city. Though Bengaluru is the second highest tax contributor, it gets very little in return.”

“Ahmedabad is given 20 per cent of the tax devolution while Bengaluru gets only 10 per cent. Bengaluru needs to be treated on par with other large cities in the country like Delhi. We are not doing politics over this, we are only appealing,” Shivakumar added.

BJP hasn’t brought even Rs 10 as funds for Karnataka, he chided.

“BJP claims it has done everything. No BJP MP has even got Rs 10 as funds for Bengaluru. They should be ashamed of themselves. The Union Jal Shakti Minister has been responsive at times to our requests. Even MGNREGA funds haven’t been released,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

“Some BJP MPs think that tweeting and media coverage amounts to achievement. MPs must keep aside politics and PR and work for the welfare of the people,” he said, while lashing out at the BJP MPs from the city.

“The Centre has completely neglected Karnataka and hasn’t released any funds. We have invited the Prime Minister out of respect for the post. We have implemented innovative double-decker project which can be a model for other Metros,” he added.

“Bengaluru generates one lakh new IT jobs every year. The Metro Yellow line will benefit the IT corridor. Electronic City flyover was also completed at the time of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” Shivakumar told.

Asked about BJP’s comments that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s contribution to Metro phase 2 and 3, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “There is no contribution. All this started during former Chief Minister late S.M. Krishna and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure. Let them (Union government) release the data on their contribution, I will release the numbers too.”

“I would like to thank Infosys Delta, Biocon and other companies, who contributed to building the Metro Yellow line stations,” Shivakumar concluded.

–IANS

mka/khz