Lingayat Kheny willing to be called Gowda if it can speed up the BMIC project
Lingayat Kheny willing to be called Gowda if it can speed up the BMIC project
Tired of caste politics and tired of H D Deve Gowda's harassment, Nice man Ashok Kheny is throwing his hands in the air and asking people to "just call him Gowda".
"I am frustrated with the caste politics that is dogging the state's development," he said. "Let's put an end to it, let people call me Gowda."
Politics in the state is largely a tussle between the Lingayats, to which Kheny belongs, and the Vokkaligas whose tallest leader is former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
Kheny's dream project u2013 the Bangalore- Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) has hit many roadblocks thanks to Deve Gowda's slew of legal battles though most have been disposed of in favour of the project.
Caste out?
Kheny, managing director, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor (NICE) which is promoting BMIC, feels he is harassed because of his caste.u00a0
u00a0"I don't have anything against Gowda and the Vokkaliga community," said Kheny. "In fact, Vokkaligas in the Mandya-Mysore belt love me so much that they call me Ashok Gowda."
However, he was worried that the rift between the communities was taking a toll on development. "The communities are like the two eyes of society," he said.
"They must work hand-in-hand leaving animosity behind."
At a public function in Mandya on Saturday, Kheny said he wanted to be born a Gowda in his next birth. "I have seen the world and enjoy life as a Lingayat and want to do the same as a Vokkaliga."
'You father, me son'
Not so long ago, when Ashok Kheny was forced to revise the BMIC tolls, he had appealed to Deve Gowda to consider himself and chief minister B S Yeddyurappa as his sons. The chief minister, also a Lingayat, is at loggerheads with Deve Gowda.u00a0u00a0
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Interestingly, the appeal came at a Guruvandana programme, in which Adi Chunchanagiri Matt seer Balagangadharanatha Swamy was felicitated.
The seer, looked upon as the Vokkaliga swamy, supported BMIC and called upon people not to scuttle the project.
Swamyji, though close to the Gowda family, had had a problem with Deve Gowda sometime ago. But things have been ironed out now.
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