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Journalism of Courage
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has abandoned his obduracy on the Bangalore-Mysore expressway, and all credit must go to his coalition partner, the BJP. Kumaraswamy8217;s party, the Janata Dal S, nurtures acute distaste for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor. His father, H.D. Deve Gowda, had gone to great lengths to slow its progress. And now with the son in the chief minister8217;s office, they must have thought they had achieved their aim, with Kumaraswamy8217;s announcement that the government would take over the project. It was a move reeking of governmental overreach. It would also have been self-serving. The family owns land in the vicinity of the corridor and stood to be affected by it.
For once, the BJP gave a display of its considerable experience in participating in coalitions by putting the choice to the JDS in the clearest possible terms. Take one, the BJP8217;s ultimatum boiled down to: the project or the government. Brought to the brink, the JDS made the obvious choice. It is to be hoped that now the integrity of the project will be maintained. Karnataka, host to the country8217;s IT capital, is dishonouring its socio-economic potential by refusing to expedite infrastructure projects. BMIC has emerged as a test case of the state government8217;s resolve. Even now the JDS is insisting on a debate on the project in the state assembly, indicating its abiding passion to reap political capital from obstructionism. It will, thus, take more than this one-time ultimatum from the BJP to commit the state to reform.
