Bengaluru, May 15 (IANS) Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy survives politically by criticising the Congress government.

“If Kumaraswamy does not criticise us, he cannot survive politically. We do good work, and they oppose it,” Shivakumar told reporters near his Sadashivanagar residence in Bengaluru.

Responding to criticism by Kumaraswamy regarding the proposed Bidadi township project, Shivakumar said, “We are only continuing the project initiated during his tenure. I will fix a date and time and personally meet the farmers. They may hit me twice, tear my clothes, throw stones at me, or raise slogans against me. Can we be afraid of all this? What matters is the future of the people, their children, and their properties. If not today, even 20 years later, the people of Bidadi and South Bengaluru will remember me.”

He further countered Kumaraswamy by asking why he had not denotified the land earmarked for the project during his own tenure. “Could Kumaraswamy himself not have denotified the land? Why did he not do it? I am not ready to denotify it. He knows what consequences come from denotification. Yediyurappa knows it, and I know it too,” he said.

It can be recalled that the Bidadi Project, officially known as the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT), is a major urban development initiative driven by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to create a new “work-live-play” city near Bengaluru.

Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inflation and rising prices, Shivakumar said, “Price rise is PM Modi’s contribution. He has failed to maintain good relations with other countries and has failed to handle international crises. That is why he is asking people to save electricity and avoid using petrol.”

“How can people live daily life without using fuel? Many may reduce the number of escort vehicles; that is possible. But how can ordinary people stop travelling? People need to travel for survival,” he said.

Referring to remarks about reducing gold purchases, Shivakumar said, “How is it possible to ask people not to buy gold? Married women need mangalsutras. In such a situation, how can one say people should not buy gold?”

He added that the country was facing a difficult economic situation. “If someone says don’t use cooking oil, how much can people reduce? These things are not practical. People earn and live their lives. No one can completely control them,” he said.

When asked about the selection of Kerala’s new Chief Minister, Shivakumar said, “I congratulate him. There are many senior leaders in the party who are eligible. The party high command has given Satheesan an opportunity. I wholeheartedly wish him well. I also thank all alliance partners. We will work according to the aspirations of the people.”

Responding to a question about SIR activities entering Karnataka, Shivakumar said, “We are aware of it. Our party leaders have been informed about it. All political parties do this work. BJP and Janata Dal are also working to protect their votes.”

When asked whether he had conveyed wishes to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, Shivakumar replied, “Yes, I wished him yesterday.”

Speaking about the government’s new initiative, Shivakumar said, “We have implemented ‘Bhoomi Guarantee’ as the sixth guarantee scheme to provide proper documentation for properties earned by ordinary citizens. We have created a system to deliver e-khatas to people at their doorsteps. We are also facilitating conversion from B-khata to A-khata.”

–IANS

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