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The political temperature soared when HD Deve Gowda entered the fray, strongly backing his son and launching a blistering attack on Shivakumar and Karnataka’s Congress government
Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar (Left) and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy. File image
What began as a political slugfest between Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy over the Bidadi township project has now escalated into a full-scale Gowda family offensive, with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda himself stepping into the battlefield.
At the heart of the clash is Shivakumar’s allegation that Kumaraswamy, who first launched the Bidadi township project during his 2006-07 tenure as Chief Minister, is now opposing the very same project for political convenience. Shivakumar has sharpened his attack by suggesting that the project and the land politics around it expose contradictions in Kumaraswamy’s stand, even as he hints at larger questions over land, business, and political interests.
Shivakumar has maintained that the Congress government is merely continuing a project originally conceptualised under Kumaraswamy.
“We are only taking forward the Bidadi township project started by you,” Shivakumar countered Kumaraswamy, adding that the Union Minister “cannot survive politically without criticising us”.
The Karnataka Deputy CM has also challenged Kumaraswamy’s opposition to land acquisition, asking why he himself did not fully denotify the land when he had the opportunity.
“Farmers may throw stones at me; they may shout slogans against me. Should I be scared? What matters is their future, their children’s future, and the future of their land. Twenty years from now, Bidadi and South Bengaluru will remember me,” Shivakumar said.
Kumaraswamy, however, has accused the Siddaramaiah government of turning into a real estate broker.
“Who are they to snatch farmers’ land? The government is acting like a broker, conducting real estate business per square foot. Siddaramaiah has emerged as the broker,” he charged, urging the state to scrap the project.
But the political temperature rose sharply when Deve Gowda entered the fray, strongly backing his son and launching a blistering attack on Shivakumar and the Congress government.
Mocking Shivakumar’s remarks, Deve Gowda said, “They say I cry in meetings. Today I am laughing at this system.”
Calling Siddaramaiah his political friend while simultaneously warning him, Deve Gowda said his fight begins now. “My struggle starts today. How was poor people’s land acquired? What happened after court orders? I will write to the Chief Minister with full information.”
He accused the government of ignoring Bidadi’s farmers and questioned why no senior official or MLA had visited them. “Let Siddaramaiah come to Bidadi with me. Not one Tahsildar, DC or MLA has shown courtesy to those farmers.”
In a direct political warning, Deve Gowda invoked his long protest history—from Devaraj Urs to SM Krishna to BS Yediyurappa—making it clear he is prepared for one final agitation. “I have fought for the poor all my life. If I have to fight at the end of my life too, I am ready.”
He also took a swipe at Congress’s internal power politics. “They are celebrating transfer of power on birthdays,” he said, in an apparent jibe at the Siddaramaiah-DK Shivakumar succession buzz.
Deve Gowda further claimed he had written to Siddaramaiah seeking a probe into nearly 20,000 acres of land ownership and alleged Bengaluru was being pushed into crisis under political pressure.
The sharpest barb, however, was reserved for Shivakumar’s claim that he was ready to face angry farmers.
“Will he go there and get beaten by farmers? Let him go first. I will speak after DK Shivakumar goes there and gets beaten by the farmers,” Deve Gowda countered.
The Bidadi township, first proposed under Kumaraswamy to decongest Bengaluru through satellite townships, has now transformed from an urban planning project into a fierce political weapon—exposing old decisions, present contradictions, and a new three-cornered war involving Shivakumar, Kumaraswamy, and Deve Gowda.
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