Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw meets CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Tuesday met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar to greet them on the occasion of Diwali, and assured cooperation and support for Bengaluru's development.

Shaw has been critical of Bengaluru's infrastructure woes by highlighting them through her social media posts, and has been repeatedly urging the state government to intervene. Shivakumar, who is also the Minister in-charge of Bengaluru Development, later speaking to reporters said, Shaw has assured cooperation and support of the industry for the development of Bengaluru.

"Biocon chief Kiran Muzumdar-Shaw visited Cauvery (CM's official residence) and wished Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Diwali. Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti was present on the occasion," the CM's office said in a statement.

Shaw met Shivakumar at his Sadashivanagar residence in Bengaluru. Asked whether there was any discussion regarding Bengaluru with Shaw, Shivakumar, speaking to reporters, said, "Of course, they (industry leaders) have agreed that they are going to cooperate with the development of Bengaluru and they will not hurt Bengaluru. They will support the system."

Stating that he has called a meeting of local bodies adjacent to the Greater Bengaluru Authority area, he said, "I will be visiting those areas on Thursday and on Friday. I will be calling a meeting. Those areas will be part of the development. There is a huge difference in tax between those areas and Bengaluru Corporation (GBA). We have to see to it that all those areas are also developed."

Noting that IT/BT and other industries have said that they will cooperate for Bengaluru development, the Deputy CM said he will call them for a meeting. "Now I'm visiting all the five corporations and meeting people there. After that I will be calling IT/BT people separately...I will discuss with them. I have sought their cooperation," he added.

The state government has come under criticism over the poor state of roads and traffic issues in the city for some time now, with industry veterans like former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai and Shaw repeatedly openly urging the state government to immediately intervene.

Faced with mounting criticism from industry leaders, Shivakumar, had recently urged them to stop "hurting" the city and the state that have contributed to their growth. Stating that the government was making all efforts to fix the issues, he had appealed to industry leaders not to forget their "roots"'--Bengaluru, Karnataka, and its people--and asked them to be patient, stressing that "there is a limitation for everything."

With the Deputy CM subsequently alleging that Shaw and Mohandas Pai had some "personal agenda", as they did not raise any issues relating to Bengaluru infrastructure during the BJP regime, Shaw, rejecting it, had posted on 'X', "Not true. Both T V Mohandas Pai and I have criticised deteriorating infrastructure in our city to previous BJP & JDS Governments. Our agenda is clear, clean up and restore roads." (PTI)