Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday, April 8 slammed the ministers of Telangana and Tamil Nadu for trying to pull investors away from his state by portraying the state in bad light. The Chief Minister said that the comments made by the ministers of the neighbouring states were arising out of desperation and not in ‘good taste’. “Putting other states down to attract investors sets a bad precedent. It is not in good taste,” he said.
On Friday, Information Technology industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai also complained about Bengaluru’s poor infrastructure. "Bengaluru paid second highest IT at 1.69 lcr in 21-22, but we are ignored by Delhi! Our roads are bad, traffic sucks, quality of life down ?@narendramodi ?Sir as our PM pl intervene and help," Pai tweeted on April 7, tagging Bommai, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Following this, Chief Minister Bommai assured Pai that there will be large-scale road repair works in the city in the days to come.
Terming the attempts of Telangana and Tamil Nadu ministers as “desperate”, Bommai said that no one can stop Karnataka’s progress. "...what they are doing is not in good taste. We have to invite people to invest by projecting positive aspects of our state. There is no need to vilify the other state for it. I have not called those who have invested in Tamil Nadu and Telangana to come and invest here, that's our strength. What they are doing shows that no one is coming to their states to invest, so they are calling people from here, it's their weakness," he said. He claimed that there is a continuous flow of investments in the state. “In the last three quarters, Karnataka has received the highest investments in the country,” he said.
“Based on our own strength, infrastructure and talent resources, investors are coming here and will come in the future as well. No one can stop Karnataka's progress, despite any number of campaigns, and I will ensure it by taking all necessary measures.” the Chief Minister said.
Responding to a question regarding Pai's tweet, Bommai said the condition of roads in Bengaluru has improved, and it will further improve in the days to come.
“As rain (last year) continued (long) there was a bit of a problem. Now, there is marked improvement. In the coming one month we will further improve. I will speak to him (Pai) personally. There is no such reason for worry,” he said.
"All the details are in the public domain as to how much kilometre we have (developed) and what we have done. I have released the amount under 'Nagarothana" programmes and funds have been allocated in the BBMP budget, so there will be large-scale road repair works in the days to come," he added.
Pai's tweet comes close on the heels of Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao (KTR) inviting an entrepreneur who had complained about Bengaluru’s poor infrastructure.
A few days ago, KTR invited entrepreneur Ravish Naresh to make an investment in Hyderabad after he had complained of bad roads, power cuts, poor quality of water supply and lack of footpaths in Bengaluru on Twitter.
Pack your bags & move to Hyderabad! We have better physical infrastructure & equally good social infrastructure. Our airport is 1 of the best & getting in & out of city is a breeze
— KTR (@KTRTRS) March 31, 2022
More importantly our Govt’s focus is on 3 i Mantra; innovation, infrastructure & inclusive growth https://t.co/RPVALrl0QB
Similarly, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) had said that many investors from Karnataka who had expressed concerns of communal tension in the state were in touch with him to make investments in Tamil Nadu.
Bommai said, “Tamil Nadu and Telangana are very much desperate, and one can't compare Bengaluru and Karnataka with any other state or city.”
Further, stating that international investors are coming forward to invest in Karnataka, the Chief Minister said, in the days to come, large-scale investment is expected, and there are big proposals.
With PTI inputs