Why were govt funds used for Kempegowda’s statue?, asks Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar

The statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, on Thursday. Pic/PTI

Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar on Thursday questioned as to why government funds were used to install 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.

"Doing it (installing the statue) using government funds is a big crime. We (Karnataka govt) have given the land and also funds for the Bengaluru International Airport Limited. Out of 4,200-acre land, 2,000 acre was given at only R6-lakh per acre. Along with money, they have shares. It (BIAL) should have used its money, why use government money," Shivakumar said.

"Airport should have done it, is it not earning?" he added. The BJP government is now behaving as though the statue installation is their party work, he further alleged. The project, besides the statue, has a heritage theme park in an area of 23 acres all costing the government Rs 84 crore.

Also Read: Bengaluru: PM Modi to inaugurate airport's Terminal 2, unveil Kempegowda's 108-ft statue today

‘Politics on statue'

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.

Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said the Congress government led by him was the one which had first planned to install 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 install a statue when the airport was named," he said.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy accused the BJP government of using Kempegowda for politics. Stating that BJP is in an illusion that they can gain Vokkaliga votes by installing the statue of Kempegowda and getting it unveiled by Modi, he said people would give them a befitting response.

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