Bengaluru:President of Karnataka Congress D K Shivakumar on Thursday questioned as to why government funds were used to instal a 108-feet statue of Bengaluru founder Nadaprabhu Kempegowda at the international airport here. The statue is to be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 11. Shivakumar said the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), which runs the Kempegowda International Airport, should have taken up and completed the work on the statue. He referred to the land and funds provided to the airport by the government and the income the facility earns.
The project, besides the statue, has a heritage theme park in an area of 23 acres dedicated to the 16th-century chieftain, all costing the government Rs 84 crore. With the installation of the statue ahead of Assembly polls next year, there seems to be competition between political parties to claim credit for the legacy of Kempegowda, who is revered, especially by the Vokkaliga community that is dominant in Old Mysuru and other parts of south Karnataka.
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"Doing it (installing the statue) using government funds is a big crime. We (the Karnataka govt) have given the land and also funds for the Bengaluru International Airport Limited. Out of 4,200-acre land, 2,000 acres were given at only Rs 6-lakh per acre. Along with money, they have shares. It (BIAL) should have used its money, why to use government money," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The airport should have done it, is it not earning? Hasn't their property price increased, we have given over 2,000 acres for commercial exploitation. Why did you need government money? Why is the Chief Secretary quiet? There was no need to use government money." The BJP government is now behaving as though the statue installation is their party work, he further alleged. Called the 'Statue of Prosperity,' it is the first, and the tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city as per 'The World Book of Records'.
The statue, weighing 218 tonnes (98 tonnes of bronze and 120 tonnes of steel), has been installed at the Kempegowda International Airport here. It has a sword weighing four tonnes. Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said the Congress government led by him was the one which had first planned to instal the statue of Kempegowda at the airport. "Who started Kempegowda Jayanti? Who established Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Heritage Area Development Authority? Who named the airport after Kempegowda? It was our government. Our government was the one which decided to instal a statue when the airport was named," he said. Opposition Leader Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar wrote letters to PM Modi and sought clarification on allegations, which state govt has been facing. (PTI)
