Kothur Manjunath, a Congress MLA from Kolar, sparked controversy after threatening to cut power supply to the inauguration of the Airbus H125 assembly unit. He was miffed over receiving an invitation via email.
The plant was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in the district on 17th February. He publicly threatened to stop the facility’s operations by cutting off electricity and even asked the farmers to use tractors to destroy the electricity poles connected to the place.
Manjunath made these statements in the name of protesting against the failure of the Tata Advance System to provide appropriate employment opportunities for locals. He charged, “They have taken our land but are not giving jobs to our people, nor allowing them inside. Let us see if they understand the power of elected representatives.”
According to him, local elected officials were not invited to the opening ceremony at the Vemagal Industrial Area. He called it a major breach of procedure and claimed that MLAs, MLCs and members of the Vemagal town panchayat were disregarded. Manjunath strongly criticised what he called the marginalisation of local representatives, even though the venture was established on local property. He threatened to shut off the helicopter unit’s electricity or dig a hole in front of the factory gates. He also stated that a tractor could be used to hit the power-providing pole.
The Congress MLA also alleged that although the land was purchased locally, the locals were not given enough work and were assigned guard positions while “outsiders” took better positions. His remarks were immediately denounced by the BJP and JD(S).
JD(S) leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy highlighted that the comments are inflammatory and Karnataka’s industrial progress needs the cooperation of MLAs. “It’s better if the Congress MLA supports this project brought by the Union government instead of talking about who was not invited, who was invited, etc,” he mentioned.
Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra likewise countered, “I think he has forgotten that we live in a democratic system, threatening like this will not help him. As a public representative, he should talk with more responsibility.”
