Election Commission puts BMIC work on hold

After the erstwhile H D Kumaraswamy Government in Karnataka, it is now the turn of Election Commission of India to throw a spanner into the work on the controversial Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC).

Taking serious note of the decision taken by the Executive Committee of the State Government headed by Governor Rameshwar Thakur to reverse an August 2007 of the H D Kumaraswamy Government to stop Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) from executing the project, the Election Commission has directed the State Government to suspend its decision till May 28.

The Election Commission’s decision comes in the wake of a complaint that the State Government had violated the election code of conduct.

“Permitting NICE to continue work on the BMIC project is a major policy decision and the Election Commission considers the Government’s act as a violation of the code of conduct. The State Government has been asked to cancel that particular decision and not take any further decision till May 28”, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami told reporters in Mangalore after holding a review meeting ahead of the assembly polls scheduled to be held on May 10, 16 and 22 in Karnataka.

The Governor’s Executive Committee had on April 28 overturned the H D Kumaraswamy Government’s decision to leave NICE out of the mega infrastructure project and invite fresh bids in a global tender.

Meanwhile, Governor Rameshwar Thakur’s advisor S Krishna Kumar told reporters that the Government will follow the directions issued by the Chief Election Commissioner on the BMIC project, which envisages construction of a state-of-the-art expressway between Bangalore and Mysore, besides five townships enroute.