Garbage tender row triggers fresh DK Shivakumar-Ashoka slugfest

Bengaluru: The war of words between chief minister DK Shivakumar and opposition leader in the assembly R Ashoka escalated Thursday over alleged irregularities in Bengaluru’s Rs 39,437-crore waste management tender.

Rejecting Ashoka’s allegations of corruption in the tender process, Shivakumar accused the senior BJP MLA of acting as a spokesperson for the city’s waste management mafia. “Ashoka is speaking as an agent of Bengaluru’s waste mafia. I had earlier discussed with him the need to rein in this lobby. It is surprising that he is now acting as its spokesperson,” Shivakumar said.

The CM maintained that the tender process is transparent and challenged the opposition to seek any investigation it wanted. “Even if there is a misuse of Rs 10 crore, I am ready to face an inquiry,” he said.

Ashoka responded sharply, saying he is indeed an “agent”, but only of the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru. “It is my constitutional duty to question govt’s actions. I do not need anyone’s permission to do so,” he said in a post on X.

The opposition leader challenged the govt to make public the report of a high-level committee set up to examine the tender process. “If the govt is truly transparent, it should release the report immediately instead of hiding it. Let the people of the state decide the truth,” he said.