Rajeev Chandrasekhar vs Shashi Tharoor: Bengaluru traffic problem being discussed in Kerala now!

Bengaluru: The dilapidated Kempegowda International Airport road, along with the stretch between Vidhana Soudha and Hebbal flyover, were supposed to be major election issues in Bangalore. However, a spat of words has started in Kerala regarding the traffic problems of Bengaluru. Ironically, the problems of the capital of Karnataka are being discussed in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.

In the campaign arena of Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency where candidates like Shashi Tharoor from Congress and Rajeev Chandrasekhar from BJP are contesting, there is a controversy about the traffic problem in Bengaluru. Why are you arguing about Bengaluru traffic in Kerala? It all started when the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee mentioned the controversial steel bridge project in Bengaluru in its X Account.

In 2016, the Siddaramaiah-led government had given permission for the construction of a steel bridge in Bangalore. This caused a huge controversy.

It has now been proposed by the Kerala Congress during its campaign. In response, the BJP accused the Congress of corruption and Rajiv Chandrasekhar had expressed his opposition to the project, which was responsible for the destruction of the environment. It also posted that the project was taken up without any consultation with the public.

The Kerala Congress, which has retaliated against this, said that it takes an hour to cover a distance of 7 km from Bangalore to Kempegowda International Airport. In this backdrop, the Kerala Congress has questioned the credibility of Rajiv Chandrasekhar in implementing infrastructure development projects in Thiruvananthapuram.

Although Rajeev Chandrasekhar did not respond to this, former CFO of Infosys Mohan Das Pai responded that Kerala Congress should take care of itself, the youth there are migrating to Karnataka in large numbers. Save Kerala first, then talk about Bangalore. Along with this, the netizens suggested that the Kerala Congress should stop focusing on the traffic in Bengaluru and focus on the development of their state. Ironically, traffic congestion at Hebbal Junction does not figure in the list of election issues being debated in Bengaluru.

Not only the Airport Road, the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway is also being discussed in the Kerala election campaign. Rajeev Chandrasekhar and other BJP leaders who proposed the Expressway claimed that the BJP would change the development path of Kerala. However, the same is not being discussed by our present MP contenders in Bengaluru.

After this, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who responded, said that 8,500 crore rupees have been spent on the expressway. Despite the huge expenditure, safety measures are lacking on the highway. Within a year of its inauguration, it was revealed that Rs 688 crore was being allocated to solve the problems created on the highway.