Mangaluru roads have become the centre of a fresh political dispute, with KPCC spokesperson A.C. Vinayaraj accusing BJP leaders of failing to use available funds for road and drainage works in the city. He made the allegations at a press conference, while challenging BJP MLA Vedavyas Kamath to publish a white paper on development work carried out over the past eight years.
Vinayaraj said the Mangaluru North and Mangaluru South Assembly constituencies had been represented by BJP MLAs for eight years, while the municipal administration was led by the BJP until 2025. He alleged that a protest staged by Kamath in the Shivabagh ward was an attempt to divert attention from failures in addressing the city’s deteriorating roads.
The Congress spokesperson disputed claims that the Mahatma Gandhi Nagar Vikasa Yojana-1 had been cancelled. According to him, the scheme had earmarked ₹125 crore for development works under the Mangaluru City Corporation during the tenure of U.T. Khader as Urban Development Minister in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. He said works worth about ₹60 crore were implemented during the subsequent BJP-led government, while several projects that had not begun were stopped for alleged violations of rules.
Vinayaraj questioned why the Shivabagh road had not been taken up using funds from Mahatma Gandhi Nagar Vikasa Yojana-2, a ₹400-crore special grant, the 15th Finance Commission, the State Finance Commission or the municipal corporation’s general fund. He also referred to the role of Kavya Nataraj, who had served as the councillor representing the ward, while alleging that the condition of the road reflected administrative failure.
He further cited multiple funding sources that he said were available for drainage and road-related works. These included ₹100 crore through the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, ₹145 crore under Mahatma Gandhi Nagar Vikasa Yojana-2, ₹25 crore from an MLA’s special grant, ₹10 crore from a natural disaster fund, about ₹19 crore annually from the 15th Finance Commission and ₹5 crore from the State Finance Commission.
Vinayaraj also said the state Cabinet had allocated ₹400 crore for road development and claimed that funds were available through the municipal corporation’s own resources. He questioned why these sources had not translated into repairs across Mangaluru, particularly when residents continue to experience damaged roads and inadequate drainage infrastructure.
The allegations put the focus on a recurring urban governance question: whether the availability of budgetary allocations is being matched by project approvals, compliance, tendering and execution. The supplied report does not include a response from Kamath, the BJP-led municipal administration or the Mangaluru City Corporation to the claims. Congress leaders Abdul Saleem, Prakash Saliyan, S. Appi, Sabitha Miskith, Samsuddin Kudroli, Anil Poojary and Ashraf Bajal attended the press conference.
