‘Who Is He to Oppose Tunnel Roads?’: Karnataka DyCM DK Shivakumar Hits Back at Tejasvi Surya

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar hit back at BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over his criticism of the 18-km Bengaluru Tunnel Road project, calling him “waste material” and questioning his authority to oppose government plans.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar hit back at BJP leader and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya over his opposition to the tunnel road project and questioned his authority to show opposition to government projects

"That boy is a waste of material. He is a waste material. When he is treated with respect and spoken to, he keeps on ranting as much as he can," Shivakumar told reporters here.

"Who is this Tejaswi Surya to say no to tunnel roads? He should decide in the Lok Sabha after becoming a Union Minister that there should be no tunnel roads in this country and in the world," he said.

The senior Congress leader questioned the previous government about infrastructure projects in the State.

"We are the ones who brought the metro to this state. What did they do when they were in power? What did they bring from the centre? How many pillars did they put up in Bengaluru? How much money did they bring for the project? The central government is providing 11-12 per cent of the money for the metro project. We are providing everything ourselves, including land compensation," he said.

BJP leader and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday slammed DK Shivakumar, accusing him of rejecting key public transport proposals while pushing an "extremely costly" 18-kilometre Tunnel Road project, which he dubbed a "matrimonial project".

"The Deputy Chief Minister has rejected all of our proposals, and he said that he doesn't find our proposal to increase Metro -- make Bengaluru a 300-kilometre Metro with a three-minute frequency city -- as a viable solution. He has not given strength to our vision of a 314-kilometre suburban rail. Together, this 600-kilometre rail-based backbone can take around 60 to 65 lakh people every day," Tejasvi Surya said earlier

"We have proposed to strengthen BMTC and start small private buses that can go even into the smaller areas and roads of Bengaluru. 

That has not been given heed. He, however, has said that the only solution, like a magic wand, to solve all of Bengaluru's traffic problems is this 18-kilometre, extremely costly Tunnel Road project," he added earlier.

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