Bengaluru, 1 Nov

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday played down the “November Revolution”, asserting that there was complete unity within the ruling Congress.

“Only what the Chief Minister and I have spoken matters. Apart from that, no one else’s words carry any value,” the Deputy Chief Minister said, dismissing political rumours.

Speaking to reporters near the Kanteerava Stadium, Shivakumar stressed that the government’s focus remained on governance and development, not speculation.

He underlined that his coordination with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was intact and that “it is precisely because of our unity that we have won 136 constituencies and increased our strength to 140.

TUNNEL ROAD

On the issue of proposed tunnel road project in the City, which the BJP has been opposing, Shivakumar said, “I am ready to form a committee on the tunnel road issue under the leadership of (Opposition Leader) R Ashoka. The entry and exit points near Lalbagh will be designed at the place he suggests."

Clarifying that he was open to a bipartisan approach on City infrastructure, Shivakumar said, “There is no need for Ashoka to sit on a demonstration (on 2 November) because he is from Bengaluru. He has won from here seven to eight times. He too has a responsibility. The committee formed under his leadership itself should give advice and direction to the government. Whoever’s names, including Malleswaram MLA CN Ashwath Narayan, he suggests, they will be added to this committee. We all must work together and we will.”

Shivakumar revealed that he had personally inspected the tunnel road site near Lalbagh on Friday night.

“I visited the area near Lalbagh to examine where entry points could be provided. I am also considering alternative routes. There is no need for any anxiety,” he said, assuring that public interest would guide the project’s execution.

 ‘Will study Mumbai model to clean the City’

Shivakumar said that he was mulling cleaning the garbage from the City with a model similar to Mumbai. “I was just in Bombay,” he said, noting that Maharashtrian capital had no dust and the roads were clean. “Cleaning of the roads will be done by the Road Contractors itself.” He said it was a “very good concept” and should be implement in Karnataka. He also defended the GBA initiative to dump garbage back at the doorstep of serial litterers, urging the public to cooperate to make Bengaluru cleaner.