It's 'quarter B'luru' not 'greater B'luru': Ashoka on move to trifurcate city

Bengaluru: Launching a scathing attack on the ruling Congress, leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said on Thursday that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar were turning 'Greater Bengaluru' into 'Quarter Bengaluru,' through their plans to divide the city into three municipal corporations.

Speaking to reporters, Ashoka said that this decision would hamper development, betray Nadaprabhu Kempegowda’s vision of a unified city and hurt Bengaluru’s identity and economy.

Lashing out at the proposed trifurcation of the city, the leader of the Opposition contended that it would not result in better governance or higher revenue.

“IT and BT sectors are concentrated in one division. The other two divisions will not have the income to sustain themselves. This move is not for Bengaluru’s development, but to benefit vested real estate interests,” he charged.

Questioning the logic of making Chief Minister Siddaramaiah the chairman of the proposed Greater Bengaluru Authority, he said, since the CM was not elected through municipal corporations, how could Siddaramaiah lead the authority? 

“The CM can’t even attend municipal meetings,” Ashoka said and added that if the BJP returned to power in the state, it would legally challenge the move and work to reunify the city.

Taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the leader of the Opposition accused him of advancing the division plan for 'personal gain' and to delay BBMP elections. 

He said core civic issues like garbage management, drinking water, electricity in BDA layouts and long-pending projects such as Mekedatu remain unaddressed.

"Instead of fixing problems, Congress is diverting people's attention with this plan,” he said.

Training his guns on the Congress party over national issues, Ashoka demanded that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) clarify its official position on war and peace.

“Some Congress leaders call for peace, others for war. There’s no clarity. The AICC must state its stand clearly,” he said and urged Congress to stop politicising national security and trust the armed forces, who are still actively neutralising threats.