DH Interview | 'Rs 75 per square feet bribe is Congress model for Bengaluru': BJP's Tejasvi Surya

What Congress intends for Bengaluru is a tunnel vision, literally. Other than such projects aimed at looting the exchequer, there's no vision Congress offers, the Bangalore South BJP MP tells DH's Bharath Joshi.

Taking Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar head-on over the tunnel road project, Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya is confident that his party will win the city’s municipal elections as well as the 2028 state polls. He tells DH’s Bharath Joshi why. Excerpts: 

Q. How is the BJP positioned for the GBA elections?

A. Organisationally, the BJP is ready to face the elections when they happen. We're very confident that the city will, once again, repose faith in the BJP across all municipal corporations, having grown greatly disenchanted with the way the Congress government has governed the city. I also want to state that we've challenged in court the constitutionality of the GBA Act, which violates the 74th Amendment. It centralises power with the state in the garb of decentralisation. 

Q. What makes you say that the BJP will do well in the GBA polls? 

A. BJP governments, both in the Centre and state, have consistently delivered development for Bengaluru. In fact, we brought the BBMP when BS Yediyrappa was the CM. Bengaluru, under BJP, also benefited from many schemes, including giving police stations access to a CCTV network, which happened for the first time. The Cauvery Phase 4 and 5 schemes greatly progressed under BJP governments. The city has benefitted from the expansion of the metro network, the suburban rail project, urban housing, Startup India, Jan Aushadhi and more recently the tax relief to the middle class. That’s why BJP is repeatedly trusted by people of the city. 

Q. How will you counter the Congress' narrative, especially that of DK Shivakumar, that the previous BJP government did nothing for the city? 

A. I’ve mentioned how BJP has delivered development. What Congress intends for Bengaluru is a tunnel vision, literally. Other than such projects aimed at looting the exchequer, there's no vision Congress offers. We've presented our vision: a 300-km metro with a 3-minute frequency, a 314-km suburban rail and more buses. In the last six years, half of the BMTC's fleet today is because of the Centre's e-bus scheme. In my constituency, GAIL is connecting nearly 80,000 houses, which is a 100% Centrally-funded project. We also brought Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) to which this government hasn't appointed a chairperson. If you compare the pace of metro construction under our government and theirs, you'll know how fast we were. Shivakumar has said many times there's a garbage mafia. It reeks of helplessness. The government should be the one dictating the terms, not the mafia. 

Q. Will the BJP dismantle this so-called garbage mafia?

A. Absolutely! In my constituency, at Bommanahalli, there's the KCDC compost plant. People were always complaining about it. I wanted to find a permanent solution. Under the Centre's Swachh Bharat and Amrut Bharat schemes, we've now got GAIL to set up a compressed biogas plant with a 500 metric ton capacity. It'll incinerate wet garbage and produce piped gas that will be distributed to households. This is a 100% Central project. This is one example of how you can bring a sustainable change. 

Q. With no other BJP leader taking on the government over Bengaluru governance, are you now the face of your party in the city? 

A. As an MP of the city, it's only my responsibility and duty to raise issues and try to get this insensitive government to address them. Our metro fare is the highest in the country. A city that suffers from traffic jams must be incentivising public transport, not punitively punishing citizens for using it. We've been fighting for public transport, which is a proven solution. We've been fighting against corruption in the khata process. I'm only doing my duty, nothing beyond that. 

Q. How do you see BJP's alliance with JD(S)?

A. The alliance with JD(S) has worked very well for us in the Lok Sabha election. There's good synchronization. I'm sure that the alliance will be strong in future elections as well. 

Q. There’s a leadership tussle brewing in Congress. One view is that the BJP would prefer Siddaramaiah as CM, for he’ll provide issues that can polarise voters. 

A. This assumption that BJP needs communal issues to bolster its political narrative is flawed. The BJP has opposed ideas that are anti-people. It's in the nature of Congress to do corruption and be anti-people. So, it doesn't matter who'll lead the state. There's nothing positive that'll come out of this government. 

Q. So, how does BJP view the road to 2028? 

A. People are just waiting for an opportunity to throw this government out. This government is treating Karnataka like a golden goose to fund Congress pan-India. The moment they got control of Bengaluru, they literally squeezed the city to fund the Telangana election. Now, they have control on Telangana (Hyderabad) and Bengaluru, the two economic centres of the south. The entire Congress is financially dependent on these two cities. Karnataka is being used to fund every activity of Congress, including more recently the Bihar election. There’s an unwritten fee of Rs 75 per sq ft for building plan approvals. Ask any builder. This is the city’s biggest open secret, a new model introduced by the Congress government. Also, the aspirational bar has come down so low that DCM says the government is filling up 5,000 potholes. Is this an achievement? Looking at this, Google took its $15 billion project to Andhra Pradesh.

Q. Because of bad infrastructure?

A. Bad governance and corruption. Why is it that many manufacturing facilities go to Hosur? 

Q. IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge says the PMO arm-twists investors to go to states like Gujarat and Assam.

A. That's why I'm asking about Tamil Nadu. Investors are terrified of your governance. In the corridors of Vidhana Soudha, talk to industrialists and people who want to invest. The project report, project proposal, employment generation...they’re secondary. What are you offering to the minister? That’s the primary discussion. Based on that, things move ahead.