"Who'll Remember Me?" Deve Gowda on being left out of Assam bridge launch

Bengaluru, Dec 26 (PTI): Former Prime Minister and JDS chief HD Deve Gowda on Tuesday said he was disappointment at not being invited for the inauguration of the country's longest rail road bridge -- Bogibeel Bridge in Assam though he had laid the foundation stone of it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 4.9 km long Bogibeel bridge across Brahmaputra river, built at a cost of around Rs. 5,900 crore.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by Gowda when he was the prime minister in 1997.

"Railway line to Kashmir, Delhi Metro and Bogibeel Railroad Bridge were among the projects I had sanctioned (as prime minister). I had sanctioned the budget of Rs. 100 crore for each of these projects and laid their foundation stones. People have forgotten today," Gowda said.

Replying to a question from reporters on the sidelines of a function as to how he felt about the inauguration of the project started by him, the former prime minister said he had given the nod for many projects.

To a question whether he received an invitation, Deve Gowda quipped, "Aiyo Rama! Who will remember me? Some newspapers might have mentioned about it."

On the delay in completing the project, he said, "That is where I differ. I completed the Hassan-Mysuru project in 13 months. I completed two bridges on time. Anagwadi bridge (across Ghataprabha). Go and see the bridge on Krishna river.

"Some people from Bombay Karnataka region say that Deve Gowda did not do anything (for the north Karnataka region), go and see it," he added.

The railroad bridge spans the waters of the Brahmaputra River. Bogibeel bridge will connect Assam's Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts, bordering Arunachal Pradesh. It will cut the travel time between the two points by four hours and help avoid a 170-km detour.

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