Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh hit out at the Karnataka government on Thursday and said what sets his state apart from the rest is that they do not dismiss their people’s genuine grievances as ‘blackmail’.
“Here’s what sets AP apart from others – we don’t dismiss our people’s genuine grievances as ‘Blackmail’. We treat them with the dignity and seriousness they deserve,” he said in a post on X.
Nara Lokesh’s remarks come after Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar said on Thursday that their state government will not be “threatened or blackmailed” by companies looking to relocate due to the infrastructural issues in capital Bengaluru.
DK Shivakumar’s remarks came days after logistics unicorn BlackBuck announced that it will move out of Bellandur, off the Outer Ring Road (ORR), in Bengaluru after nine years.
On Tuesday, BlackBuck co-founder and CEO Rajesh Yabaji announced that the company is moving out of its Bellandur office as it had become “very very hard” to continue there, particularly due to three reasons — average commute for his colleagues shot up to over 1.5 hours for one way, “roads full of potholes & dust, coupled with lowest intent to get them rectified, “didn’t see any of this changing in the next 5 years”.
To this, and several other such complaints by commuters who have to travel to Bellandur near the city’s outer ring road (ORR), DK Shivakumar said that he was not to stop any company from moving.
Also read: ‘Blackmailing won’t work’: DK Shivakumar on corporates hinting at quitting Bengaluru
“I wish them all the best of luck. If they are not satisfied with manpower, talent, or facilities, I cannot stop them…But no one can threaten the government. I am telling you this. I will not stop anyone from going, least bothered about it,” he said.
However, right after BlackBuck announced its decision to move, Nara Lokesh jumped on the bandwagon and offered the company’s CEO to relocate to Vizag.
“Hi Rajesh, can I interest you in relocating your company to Vizag? We are rated among top 5 cleanest cities in India, are building best-in-class infra, and have been rated the safest city for women. Please send me a DM,” he wrote on X.
BlackBuck’s clarification
Days after announcing its decision to move out of Bengalurur’s Bellandur office, the company in a statement on Thursday that they were shifting base out of the city but somewhere within the Karnataka capital itself.
“As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Karnataka tech-ecosystem over the last decade, we fully understand what the city of Bengaluru has helped us achieve and how it will be playing a major role in unlocking our potential ahead. Hence, we unilaterally refute the claims made by some media outlets that we are considering moving out of the city,” the company said in a statement.
“We are only relocating within the city to a different location, which will facilitate an easy commute for our employees,” it added.
It also said that a large part of the company’s operations would still continue to happen on the ORR and sought help from authorities to make infrastructural improvements there.
“We will not only continue to remain in the city of Bengaluru, but will also expand our footprint here. Bengaluru is home for us and as always, we continue to remain committed to relay our needs and issues to the relevant government authorities and seek support to get them resolved,” it said.
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