BENGALURU: The results have fallen short of giving an absolute majority to any party, paving the way for alliances which has set in some uncertainty. Irrespective of which alliance comes to power, Karnataka needs a stable government that carries forward the development agenda.

Karnataka, which is the third highest contributor to India’s GDP, has the fastest growing gross state domestic product at 8.5% in the 2017-18 fiscal. To maintain this pace of economic growth, the new government should ensure that key infrastructure development projects, cleared by the former government, do not get stalled. And the allocations made for key sectors in the latest budget are spent effectively. Therefore, implementation has to be the biggest focus. Simultaneously, efforts need to be made to improve the ease of doing business and the investment climate.

The policy of implementing key projects and plugging capacity gaps through robust public-private partnerships (PPPs) will need to continue.

It is also my fervent hope that whichever party comes to power should work to restore Bengaluru to its pride of place in the list of India’s best cities. Despite contributing about 60% of Karnataka’s economic output, Bengaluru has suffered due to corruption, poor governance and political apathy.

Political parties have, over the years, chosen to look the other way as
the state capital has descended into civic chaos with bad roads, shoddy
infrastructure, lack of water and power, unruly traffic and poor solid
waste management.



The new government needs to work for citizens, be more accountable,
transparent, open to being assessed on performance metrics and willing
to make public disclosures of their work. It needs to respect the
people’s mandate for clean politics as well as address key issues
plaguing the common man.


The finances of the local body and other city agencies need to be strengthened to maintain infrastructure, support economic activity and sustain public services. The deficits in physical, knowledge, social and financial infrastructure need to be plugged swiftly.
While it is necessary to invest in developing rural infrastructure, it shouldn’t be done at the cost of urban centres. We must understand that investing in urban infrastructure is investing in economic growth.

We hope the new government heeds the voice of the voters for building an economically strong state that supports robust, inclusive and equitable growth and a better Bengaluru with a high liveability index.