Siddaramaiah equates himself with Nalvadi

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who inaugurated two buildings of the Ayush department worth Rs 15.83 crore and performed ground-breaking ceremony for works worth Rs 309.44 crore, including the new DC’s office on the site of the German Press, equated himself to the maharaja of Mysuru Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar, here, on Friday.

Other ministers Dr H C Mahadevappa and Tanveer Sait, who participated in the programme, endorsed him.

Recalling the contributions of the Wadiyar kings, especially Nalvadi, to all fields to make Mysuru a welfare state, including education, agriculture, irrigation, and industries, Siddaramaiah said, since he became chief minister, roads measuring a total of 1,000 km have been laid across the district at a cost of Rs 1,580 crore.

Listing out various funds released and sanctioned for various development works for Mysuru city and district, since he assumed the office of chief minister, Siddaramaiah asked the audience if anybody else have done so much for them. Some persons in the audience replied that after the maharaja it was only Siddaramaiah, who has spent so much of funds for Mysuru.

“Rs 59 crore has been released for the construction of the new DC’s office. The building designed on the lines of Lalitha Mahal Palace will cost a total of Rs 110 crore. Under the second phase of the project to supply 24/7 drinking water to the residents of the city, Rs 213.99 crore, including the Centre’s share of Rs 106.99 crore, is being spent under JnNurm funds. The stretch from the Dairy Circle on Bannur Road up to the Ring Road will be converted into a four-laned road at a cost of Rs 30.50 crore,” he said. 

Kuppana Park will get a glass house at a cost of Rs 6 crore. The remaining portion of the Bannur Road, from Dairy Circle to Nazarbad Police station, will be made a four-lane road under other funds. The city will soon get a District Hospital at a cost of Rs 60 crore. We have given so much to the people of Mysuru. But, they do not bother to come here,” he said.

He was referring to the lukewarm response to the function as almost 90% of the chairs were vacant. As a temporary arrangement, the officials blocked the view of a portion of the venue to conceal the vacant chairs. He delayed his arrival to the venue by over two hours in anticipation of people. But, when the venue was empty even after 1.15 pm for the programme scheduled for 11 am, he reluctantly attended the programme. He was supposed to deliver his inaugural, but, contrary to the practice, he was the last speaker.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait, who presided over the function, spoke first and hinted at a comparison to Nalvadi and said these were the major development works since the days of the maharajas.

PWD Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa, who spoke next, said, the Siddaramaiah’s government has spent over Rs 2,000 crore on Mysuru district and the changes were visible. He equated the works with that of Nalvadi.

Siddaramaiah, who looked visibly upset, spoke like he was addressing an election rally.

He called upon the audience, ministers, MLAs, corporators and even the Mayor, who belongs to the JD(S), to give publicity to his contributions. He repeated the slogan ‘Nudidanthe Nadeda Sarkara’, meaning the government which has kept its words.
DH News Service

Deputy mayor, who?
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and District Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa seemed to ignore Deputy Mayor Vanitha Prasanna, who was present as a protocol, during the programme of the CM to lay foundation stone for various development works, here, on Friday.

While the CM just mentioned ‘deputy mayor’ during his inaugural address, Dr Mahadevappa paused at ‘deputy mayor’, looked at her and enquired about her name.

The CM also mentioned Corporator Ashwini Ananthu as Ashwini Anand. While Vanitha is a BJP member, Ashwini won the election as an independent.