The Hindu : Govt. unfazed by BJP remarks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Govt. unfazed by BJP remarks

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JAN. 28 . The State Government stood on stronger ground today when it faced criticism from the BJP of ingratitude towards the NDA Government with regard to the Bangalore International Airport Project for which the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, will perform the "groundbreaking" puja on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the State BJP spokesman and MLA, S. Suresh Kumar, accused the Government of attempting to convert tomorrow's function into a one-man show of the Chief Minister.

Though the Centre had extended all cooperation to the project, the State Government had failed to invite any of the Union Ministers concerned to the function, he said.

Mr. Suresh Kumar said that besides the failure to invite the MP from Bangalore South and State BJP President, H.N. Ananth Kumar, to the function, the Government had ignored even its own MP, C.K. Jaffer Sharief (Bangalore North), he added.

Later in the day, the Chief Minister's Secretariat released a letter from the private secretary to the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, which said that the Minister would not be able to attend the puja as he would be preoccupied with the Parliament session.

The Secretariat said that Mr. Sharief would be attending the function.

The Chief Minister had written to the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, thanking him for clearing the project. "Where is the question of ingratitude?," an official spokesman asked.

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