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Kheny's interviews

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Going by his media talk, Mr Ashok Kheny is sure sounding aggressive and even more determined about his pet project. Here is some interesting stuff I picked out from his recent statements and interviews. First the TOI interview (Sunday, Aug 12).

"... some IAS officers then came to me and advised me to change the alignment as their properties were getting affected..."

"He (Deve Gowda) told me to let go off 245 acres and in return, promised me 5000 acres elsewhere. I learnt through officials that he had made some commitments during the elections that the land will be de-notified"

Wonder why Mr Kheny is unwilling to name any IAS officers, but is so candid in naming politicians. After projecting a victimized-by-politicians image in the interview, there was an interesting promise made as well:

"I will form a trust, leave all the gains out of this project, and take back only what I have invested".

Okay, thats a big one to keep. On to some other recent statements (Business-Standard, DH etc)

"If the state tries to apply the Swiss challenge method to BMIC project, (I) too could submit a proposal to ... acquire the Bangalore International Airport project ..."

"Some partners in GIC (the consortium that wants to take over BMIC) have sent letters saying they had nothing to do with the consortium"

Hope he has handed these letters over to the Supreme Court. A hearing was scheduled for today (Monday), and we should expect something interesting in tomorrow morning's papers.

On the time frame for projects, Mr Kheny told TOI that he expects it to take another three years (2010). About phase-I (peripheral/link roads), he promises it can be ready in two months once he gets the needed land.

All in all, good to see both parties (Gowda family and Mr Kheny) get aggressive here. Hope someone's bluff will be called pretty soon.

Comments

tsubba's picture

irresponsible gossip.

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the man is glib. knows how to talk! and prolly can teach the gowda's a thing or two about cultivating public persona. not that anything is wrong with his methods all this is par for public personalities. he aint going anywhere and giving nobody nothing. between cultivating the powerful and the glamorous, he'z having too much fun out here. what is he going to do back in Pennsylvania? remodel his kitchen and get his lawn done and get stuck in NJTP all to get a decent masala dose? apparently, he still holds his indian passport and belongs to one of the major vote blocs in KA. dont be suprised if you see him in vidhan soudha hearing petitions instead of submitting one.
namma nadu's picture

When in rome, be a roman

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I like Kheny - I cant remember a single businessman who has taken on politicians and their cohorts masquerading as Government 'Servants' (huh!) and has lived to tell his story. Kheny for whatever his faults (magnified a zillion times) seems to be in the dock forever but Deve Gowda and his chelas dont get the stick at all. Remember the Padmanabhanagar petrol bunk scam or the 200 crore bribe to HDK and now this GIC story -- our corrupt, vile and power hungry rulers continue to play around with our finances, our infrastructure (today it took 90 minutes to cover the distance of 3 kms from Jaydeva flyover to Bommanahalli ). Hosur Road from madivala police station to St. Johns is made one-way to appease a politician who needs parking space on the footpath in front of his palatial (illgoten?) house. The amount of fuel wasted by making a detour for this is scary and all to appease one more 'joker'. Kheny is one guy trying to make money the old fashioned way and certainly not trying to 'milk' the system any more than the politicians & government servants. Has anyone been to IAS officer's colony in BTM? Pl. check out the area. The roads are built in such a fashion to prevent the area being used as a thoroughfare. Will that be allowed elsewhere? Where did they get the money to build such palatial buildings ? I could go on, but i hope i am making my point
Vinay's picture

I'm a Kheny fan!

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The peripheral road from Tumkur road to Hosur road is the very first really *International Standard* infrastructure project I have come across in India. And it is not even really complete yet.

We need expressways of this sort. We do not need useless flyovers that shift bottlenecks from one signal to another. We need self contained townships around Bangalore. We need to try our best to replicate MG road and Brigade road in other parts of the city (well, at least a few malls and multiplexes, which will prevent people from flocking only to MG Road).

I agree 100% with 'namma nadu' above. Kheny's 'land grabbing' will result in tangible benefits for lakhs of people on a daily basis. That's more than I can say for land grabbing by certain other people.


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