Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday announced that the statue of Bengaluru’s founder Kempe Gowda would be installed in front of Vidhana Soudha within one year.
He was speaking after conferring the Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda International Award during the 513th birth anniversary of the city’s founder. He also said that the statue at Kempegowda International Airport would be dedicated during the inauguration of the Terminal 2 at the airport. “We plan to get the statue unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. The inaugural award was conferred on former Chief Minister and BJP leader S.M. Krishna, former international shuttler Prakash Padukone, and Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy.
The Chief Minister said that so far, the government had spent ₹85 crore towards the statue at the airport, and an additional ₹23 crore had been released for beautification. “This will also include efforts to highlight the history of the ruler. Once the Terminal 2 is launched, the airport will become the best airport in the country. This will be a befitting tribute to the city’s founder.”
He also said that ₹100 crore had been released for setting up of the Kempe Gowda Research Centre in Bengaluru University at a cost of ₹50 crore and a project to showcase the history of Kempe Gowda at Magadi at a cost of ₹50 crore would be completed in a time-bound manner. “The Vokkaliga Development Corporation had been provided a grant of ₹150 crore. Kempe Gowda belonged to entire Karnataka and the state would be developed in accordance with his vision.”
Mr. Bommai also said that the city would be developed on all four directions without losing its native character and the vision of Kempe Gowda. “The city has grown 30 to 40 km from its core in all directions and we are working on plans with a vision for the next 40 years,” he said.
