Still blocking the road

In a continuing display of the exercise of irresponsible power, Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, no doubt with the full backing of his formidable father, H.D. Deve Gowda, is discovering new stratagems to block the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor BMIC project. This time, clauses in the agreement signed by the earlier government allowing for the transfer of land to the project8217;s implementers are being sought to be annulled.

That two people 8212; albeit the two most powerful in the state today 8212; are allowed to derail a high-profile infrastructure project which has the potential to give great fillip to Karnataka8217;s economic growth and reinforce its status as an IT hub, is nothing but a scandal. This, after the Karnataka High Court gave its green signal to the project, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court twice over 8212; first, when it went along with the high court8217;s verdict in May 2006, and later when it rejected the Kumaraswamy government8217;s plea for a review of its earlier order. It is against this background that the latest moves at annulling clauses in agreements and the like should be seen, and they clearly amount to contempt of court.

The BJP has seen its alliance with the Janata Dal S in Karnataka as evidence of its relevance south of the Vindhyas. The alliance has brought it to power in the state certainly, but it needs to examine the worth of a relationship held hostage to the personal interests of Kumaraswamy and his father. It needs to ask itself whether it wishes to be besmirched by the lack of credibility that has marked the duo8217;s handling of the BMIC issue. The BJP hopes to occupy the chief minister8217;s chair soon in the rotational arrangement that it had worked out with its coalition partner. But the party needs to ask itself whether a man who has so doggedly blocked an infrastructure project would be in any hurry to give up his chief-ministerial chair? The BMIC project has become the looking glass through which Karnataka8217;s voters should see Kumaraswamy and father.