Bengaluru, Dec 13 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday asserted that he feared none as he had braved Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah even in the face of imprisonment.
Shivakumar said he always wanted to help the apartment owners in the city to solve their problems, but warning him with a voting bloc will not work on him.
He said this in response to the warning given by one Kiran Hebbar, an office bearer of Apartment Owners Association.
“I think some people don’t know who I am. I returned from jail without getting scared by the Prime Minister and Home Minister of this country. Will I be afraid of someone called Hebbar?” Shivakumar said during an interaction with the representatives of Bengaluru Apartment Associations.
The event was organised at the Banquet Hall of Vidhana Soudha regarding the Karnataka Apartment (Ownership and Management) Bill, 2025, which will be applicable across the five Bengaluru City Corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority.
The Deputy CM, who holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, read out the letter by Hebbar: “We, the Apartment Owners’ Association waiting patiently for many years for the amendment to be passed. Waiting another two-and-a-half years for it is unacceptable. The Congress party had promised us. We represent a significant voting bloc, influence approximately 1.3 crore people of Bengaluru, of the 1.5 crore population.”
Hebbar further wrote: “We hope that our collective voice will be heard and acted upon. As a community, we have been neglected by the successive ruling parties, and we have nothing to lose by continuing to wait. However, we caution the ruling party to consider our request since the GBA election is round the corner.”
Disappointed with the language employed in the letter, Shivakumar said one should have basic common sense while addressing. The Deputy CM said he was there to help people.
“But you can’t warn this government, whoever he is. I, too, have basic common sense. Warning me and cautioning me? Whom are you doing this with? What’s the obligation to invite you? We respect the human relationship, your efforts and its outcome. Gandhi had said If you want to control yourself, use your brain. If you want to control others, use your heart. I use my heart to control,” Shivakumar said.
The Deputy CM said the Congress had not made any promise. Instead, the 18 BJP MLAs who were elected from Bengaluru made the promise.
Shivakumar said he was elected to the Assembly eight times and had defeated the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka, with a victory margin of 1.23 lakh in the previous Assembly election.
“I won with a record margin because I loved people and people loved me. Your warnings won’t work on me,” the Deputy CM said.
“I am telling you that you can’t play a game with me as you do with others.
We have more brain power than you, but we are still on the ground. That’s why I called you because we want your voice to become our voice,” he added.
He said he, too, has built thousands of apartments and given land for thousands of apartments.
“I am a resident of Bengaluru, and I own a lot of properties in Bengaluru. You should know how to behave with people,” Shivakumar said.
His remarks have drawn sharp criticism from the BJP with the leader of opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka hitting out at Shivakumar asking what kind of language is this from a Deputy Chief Minister.
“Instead of answering genuine questions from Apartment Associations, DCM @DKShivakumar chooses intimidation – boasting about his past, flexing power, and openly threatening citizens by talking about “voting patterns” of apartment residents,” he said, in a post on ‘X’.
He questioned if this was governance or bullying? “DCM DK Shivakumar, Power is not a licence to silence questions. Authority is not an excuse to browbeat taxpayers. Public office is not meant for arrogance and intimidation,” he said.
Ashoka said citizens of Bengaluru are educated, aware, and fearless. They will not be scared by threats, nor subdued by muscle-flexing statements.
“Apartment residents are not vote banks to be warned, they are stakeholders to be respected. Deputy CM Shivakumar must remember: Power is a responsibility, not a weapon. And democracy does not bow to arrogance. Bengaluru deserves answers, not threats,” he added.
Former Chief Finance Officer of Infosys, T V Mohandas Pai too took a dig at Shivakumar terming his statements as “very wrong”.
“Yes you are our Minister but you are our representative not our Master. we are a democracy and have a right to question ministers. Very wrong to talk to citizens like this and create fear. Citizens are suffering and need help. Good of you to help,” he said, in a post on ‘X’.
