BANGALORE: Janata Dal (Secular) President and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda may have given Infosys Chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy a patient hearing on Saturday, but he is sceptical about the latter's blueprint for the development of the State, and feels that the new mantra of shifting focus on urban-rural partnership is just old wine in new bottle.

Speaking to presspersons here on Sunday, Mr. Deve Gowda said: "Ever since the Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition came to power, there has been an impression that my party is against the information technology (IT) industry, and we indulge in IT-baiting.

"After Mr. Murthy's presentation, I asked him when the problem cropped up, and why the industry was blaming us instead of cooperating with us."

`Efforts forgotten'

There is a whisper campaign going on and in its din it has been forgotten that it was during his tenure as Chief Minister that the IT Park was cleared, the sector got a 10-year tax holiday and land and other facilities were offered to them, Mr. Gowda said.

"I am not against IT. I will not allow the IT sector to go away from Karnataka," Mr. Deve Gowda added.

Metro rail project

He mentioned that he had written to Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Metro Rail project for Bangalore should not end up as a cure worse than the disease.

He said that he had, during his tenure as Prime Minister, sanctioned the Delhi Metro Rail. However, the project took more than seven years to get off ground and the cost escalation was enormous.

With regard to the proposed Bangalore Metro Rail, the Projects Investment Board had, on August 5, raised several objections and its observations indicate that the State Government cannot bear the financial burden of the project, Mr. Gowda reportedly told Dr. Mammohan Singh in his letter dated October 14.

Stipulations

He has voiced these apprehensions to Mr. Dharam Singh as well after he became aware that the Government has written to the Union Ministry of Urban Development accepting the various stipulations of the Projects Investment Board.

He said that this was done without placing the matter before the Cabinet or consulting the State Finance Department.

Best system

Indicating his ire at being painted as the one who does not want best infrastructure for Bangalore and taking a dig at his bete noir, the Maharashtra Governor and former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, Mr. Deve Gowda said: "I am aware of the problems and the need for improving the transport system in Bangalore. But should we not come up with what is best for the city? Do we not have efficient bureaucrats and officials and technical experts who can tackle this?"

Mr. Deve Gowda, whose dislike for the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) is well known, read from historian Janaki Nair's book on Bangalore as a metropolis, in which the BATF is referred to as an initiative that failed to deliver its promises on the public-private partnership.

"At the first year review in January 2001, the financial commitments of corporate giants such as Volvo, Coca Cola and others to contribute towards better roads had not been kept, and it did not even raise an eyebrow," Mr. Gowda quoted the book as saying.

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