Siddaramaiah set to visit Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, sparks row

The Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, which has been upgraded from a state highway to a national highway, with ten lanes, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 12.

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has scheduled an inspection of the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway on March 9, which has sparked a political controversy in the state.

Siddaramaiah has scheduled an inspection of the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway on March 9. (PTI)

The Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, which has been upgraded from a state highway to a national highway, with ten lanes, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 12.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has dubbed the visit by the Leader of the Opposition as “an attempt to take credit for the project”.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, Siddaramaiah claimed that credit for the 10-lane should go to the Congress party.

He said that the expressway was upgraded from a state highway to a national highway by him and HC Mahadevappa, who was the minister for public works in his cabinet.

“Oscar Fernandes, who was the Union minister for road transport in the then Congress-led Union government, not only upgraded the state highway to a national highway but also approved a proposal to widen the highway into a 10-lane road,” he said.

He claimed to have travelled to Delhi, along with Mahadevappa, to secure approval for widening the road after it was upgraded to a national highway.

“(Current) Mysuru MP Pratap Simha had no role to play in widening the road. Except for a few kilometres from Mysuru till Kalasthavadi on its outskirts, which fall in Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency, the rest of the highway falls in the jurisdiction of other Lok Sabha constituencies, including Mandya and Bengaluru Rural,” he said.

Responding to the allegations, Simha said that the people of Mysuru have “taught a lesson” to Siddaramaiah.

“Because of his lack of work in the constituency, he was forced to contest from Badami,” he said.

“The DPR for the project happened in 2014, and NHAI took over the project in 2016. In 2018, when Prime Minister Modi came to Mysuru, he announced this project. This is the first highway in Karnataka where the person who announced the project is inaugurating the project. Siddaramaiah can say what he wants, but people know the truth,” he said.

The 117-km expressway was built for ₹8,408 crore. Of the total length, 52 km is a greenfield consisting of five bypasses to reduce traffic congestion. The project is divided into two carriages -- one is Bengaluru to Nidagatta and Nidagatta to Mysore.

In the first stretch, 52km is a greenfield consisting of five bypasses which will reduce traffic blocks in Bengaluru and create a hassle-free journey for all commuters.

The expressway project was the centre of other controversies after farmers and residents of nearby villages blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway for more than two hours on February 20 demanding an underpass near Hanakere in Karnataka’s Mandya district. The protesters parked bullock carts on the highway and threatened to continue the protest indefinitely if the underpass construction was not initiated immediately.