E-Paper
Deve Gowda slams BJP over toll hike by NICE
In June 2011, NICE filed a complaint following Gowda’s statements to a Kannada TV News channel in which he had claimed that the company was looting and encroaching upon land.
Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda on Sunday lashed out at the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for turning a blind eye to the toll increased by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. (NICE).
“Why is the state government not revoking the cabinet approval granted to NICE to collect toll on a bituminous pavement, given that they have failed to fulfil contractual obligations,” Gowda said.
The Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) was cleared in 1995 when Gowda was Karnataka chief minister. The project led to a power struggle as allegations were thrown back and forth between the first family of the Janata Dal (Secular) (then only Janata Dal) and NICE promoter and former Congress MLA from Bidar Ashok Kheny.
In June 2011, NICE filed a complaint following Gowda’s statements to a Kannada TV News channel in which he had claimed that the company was looting and encroaching upon land.
During the interview, Gowda had said that the company was operating on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (‘BOOT’) basis which was actually a ‘LOOT project’. He had also referred to Kheny as “land mafia” on more than one occasion, which led to a prolonged court battle which ended with Gowda being directed to pay ₹2 crore to NICE by a Bengaluru court in June last year.
The corridor connects the southern part of Bengaluru to the northern parts on the outskirts. It was also meant to construct the road till Mysuru.
Despite repeated attempts, Kheny could not be reached for his comment.
