HD Kumaraswamy met Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to discuss the destruction caused by rain
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy met Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday and said it was to highlight the destruction caused by rains in the constituency represented by his party MLA.
However, the sudden meeting between the two leaders has given rise to speculations about possible political discussions between them, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
Mr Kumaraswamy met Mr Yediyurappa at the latter's residence-cum-office 'Krishna' in Bengaluru this morning.
The meeting lasted for about 20 minutes reported news agency Press Trust of India.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Kumaraswamy said he had come to discuss the destruction caused by the recent rains. "Especially in Dasarahalli, represented by our party MLA Manjunath, there has been a lot of damage in areas like Chikkabanavara and Peenya," he said.
"When I was Chief Minister, I had given approval to projects worth about Rs 515 crore in those areas, but so far only Rs 16 crore has been released," he added.
Several layouts have been inundated and so he, along with the legislator, met the Chief Minister and requested him to sanction more funds and mitigate the problem arising in those areas every year during rains, the former Chief Minister added.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Mr Yediyurappa too said the discussion was about the situation in Dasarahalli constituency after the recent rains.
"There has been destruction due to rains there.. so he (Kumaraswamy) came along with the legislator, seeking more funds and requested that necessary steps be taken so such things don't recur during the next rainy season... we discussed about it," he said.
Heavy rains in Bengaluru and surrounding areas earlier this week had inundated several low lying areas.
News agency PTI reported that though both leaders maintained that the discussion was on rains, eyebrows were raised in political circles as this was the first direct meeting between the two after BJP came to power last year following the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government headed by Mr Kumaraswamy.
Mr Kumaraswamy and Congress had alleged that defections engineered by BJP, under BS Yediyurappa, had led to the fall of the coalition government.
Responding to queries on the drug case, Mr Kumaraswamy said the investigation was going on and the Chief Minister himself has already said that strict action would be taken against whoever was involved and however big they are.
"... let's see whose names will emerge," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)