Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has come under flak from Mysuru MP Pratap Simha for the former’s claims of ‘contributing immensely’ to the development of the city.
The CM had inaugurated a slew of new projects including the 350-bed hospital of Sri Jayadeva Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, a trauma care centre, a nephrology unit at K.R. Hospital, distributed over 500 sites in Lalitadrinagar apart from inaugurating the new DC office complex.
The CM had claimed that almost ₹5,000 crore had been spent on the development of Mysuru in the last five years and it was the highest since the days of the maharajas.
But Mr. Simha said the sum total of all the works inaugurated on Sunday amounted to less than ₹500 crore. In contrast, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has done more, he said. “The allocation for the proposed new railway terminal for Mysuru at Naganahalli alone is around ₹790 crore. In addition, it was I who got 15 acres of Union government land released for the construction of the new DC’s office while Union government funds were used to revive the Mysuru airport and shifting of the Tipu’s armoury,” said Mr. Simha.
He said the upgrading of the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway to an eight-lane, to be funded by the Centre, would cost ₹6,400 crore while ₹172 crore has been released by the National Highways Authority of India for maintenance of the Outer Ring Road by the authority. “The total Central funding for the development of Mysuru and surrounding region amounts to almost ₹12,000 crore,” claimed Mr. Simha.
Mr. Simha said the “Contributions of the Maharajas was incomparable and the CM should tone down his ego.” Earlier, He distributed 20 tricycles to the physically challenged at the MP office in the city.
