After bitter spat over Bengaluru roads, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw meets Deputy CM D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Industrialist and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw met Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday, with the meeting generating plenty of buzz.

"It was a pleasure to meet Ms. @kiranshaw, entrepreneur and Founder of Biocon, at my residence today. We had an engaging discussion on Bengaluru’s growth, innovation, and the path ahead for Karnataka’s growth story," Shivakumar posted on X. 

As per sources, the industrialist extended an invitation to a family event to multiple politicos, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Industries Minister M B Patil and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa. 

The meetings came just days after a bitter online spat between Kiran and Shivakumar. 

On October 13, Kiran wrote on X, "I had an overseas business visitor to Biocon Park who said ‘Why are the roads so bad and why is there so much garbage around? Doesn’t the Govt want to support investment? I have just come from China and can't understand why India can’t get its act together, especially when the winds are favourable?"  

Following up, she had also posted, "We are in this dire situation because of past govts failure to act in time. This government has the opportunity to change this and act fast to fix these decades of deteriorating infrastructure and garbage management." 

The comment drew sharp responses from members of the state government, including Shivakumar, Patil, Santosh Lad and Priyank Kharge. 

Shivakumar had accused Kiran of "tarnishing" Karnataka's image with her social media posts, and even accused her of "personal agenda". "Why didn't they open their mouth during the BJP regime?" he asked.