D.K. Shivakumar who is all set to become Chief Minister of Karnataka has created a sense of hope and foreboding depending on who one talks to.

While some sections hope he will now give a push to big infrastructure projects in the city, those opposed to this model of development and land losers to these mega projects fear he will bulldoze through all opposition.

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A senior official working with the Chief Minister-designate said, “The Twin Tunnel Roads, Peripheral Ring Road and Bidadi Township projects spearheaded by Mr. Shivakumar did not get financial support from the government, forcing him to raise loans.” “Now these projects will become a priority for the government and will get a big fillip,” he said.

While Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE) may award the contract for tunnel roads shortly, the PRR and Bidadi township projects have been caught in the quagmire of land acquisition. While the location of the skydeck has recently been finalised, it is yet to take off.

V. Ravichandar, member of Brand Bengaluru Committee, said Mr. Shivakumar sees himself as a successor to S.M. Krishna as far as Bengaluru is concerned and will likely work on the peripheries of the city to equip it to absorb the next phase of urban expansion and industrial investments.

The PRR and Bidadi Township are coming up on the city’s periphery and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) plans to develop 11 layouts along the PRR.

Apart from Namma Metro, the last big infrastructure projects in Bengaluru were the Outer Ring Road and Kempegowda International Airport, both spearheaded by Mr. Krishna. It is only under Mr. Shivakumar as Bengaluru Development Minister that big ticket infrastructure projects have been initiated, some long-pending like PRR and Bidadi Township, and some new projects like tunnel roads.

It is also Mr. Shivakumar who pushed through the restructuring of the city’s governance and split the civic body into five and formed the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), a reform pending for a decade now.

But not all are on board with this model of development, and there has been intense opposition to tunnel roads in the city and against land acquisition for multiple projects on the city’s outskirts.

“Mr. Shivakumar had once said that had he been the Chief Minister, he would not have succumbed to opposition to the steel flyover project and would have gone ahead with it. This betrays an undemocratic strain. He has always advocated a very capital intensive, private transport driven development model where the poor do not find a space many times. For instance, as Bengaluru Development Minister he has consistently taken stands against the interests of street vendors. We hope as Chief Minister, he doesn’t bulldoze through any opposition to his policies, not just in Bengaluru,” said activist Vinay Sreenivasa.

Farmers’ leader Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, fighting for the rights of farmers losing lands to the PRR, said that as Chief Minister, Mr. Shivakumar should see the larger picture and stand by farmers, failing which there was no option left for them but to take to the streets.

Given the PRR and Bidadi township projects affect farmers in Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru South districts where Mr. Shivakumar and H.D. Kumaraswamy face-off, the land acquisition for both projects are expected to become a political flashpoint through the former’s tenure.