Views of all leaders will be incorporated in Greater Bengaluru Bill: D.K. Shivakumar
As the Opposition members expressed serious reservations about tabling of The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, terming it as “an effort to divide Bengaluru into pieces” as against the vision of its founder Kempe Gowda, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar assured the Legislative Assembly that suggestions of all the legislators and stakeholders would be incorporated into the Bill before adopting it.
“I am not a fool to unilaterally decide on the Bill without consulting the Opposition members. I am not asking you adopt the Bill in a hurry. I want you to go through every word in the Bill and decide on it. I don’t expect you to accept as it is. Don’t panic. I will not do anything by leaving you out just because we have numerical strength,” Mr. Shivakumar assured the agitated Opposition members on Tuesday.
He also agreed to a suggestion by the Opposition members that discussion on the Bill should be taken up at a meeting of Bengaluru city legislators convened by him on July 27.
“I may be born in a village but I have been residing in Bengaluru since the age of five. I may be representing another constituency, but I care for Bengaluru. The officials had recommended London model of governance, but I did not agree. I know it has not been possible to change the model of governance completely. Hence, we are looking at modifying the system,” he said.
Even at the Cabinet meeting that cleared the Bill, he had made it clear that the Bill should be opened up for a thorough discussion by the Opposition, he said.
He said such a Bill had become necessary as Bengaluru was growing haphazardly and the problems of civic amenities, including water supply, drainage and waste handling, were assuming different proportions. “The State capital is not confined to the people of the Bengaluru alone, but belongs to the whole State. Hence, the opinion of everyone including leaders from other districts need to be taken, he observed.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok expressed fear that prominence to Kannada would be lost in Bengaluru if the division of Bengaluru is allowed as per the provisions of the Bill.
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