Mandya, January 10: Mandya MP Sumalatha on Tuesday urged Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari to name Bangalore-Mysore Expressway after Rajashri Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
In a two-page letter written to Gadkari and a copy marked to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the Mandya MP has recalled the significant contribution made by Wodeyars to the entire old-Mysore region.
“The Rajashri gave impetus to irrigation as well as for industrialization. He started Mysore Sandal Soap factory and Iron and Steel Industry. The Wodeyars took steps to establish cottage industries all along the Bangalore-Mysore route,” Sumalatha stated.
Sumalatha mentioned that Wodeyars also took giant steps to set up educational institutions and vocational training centers. “Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar was builder of institutions and thereby builder of modern Mysore region,” she stated.
Expressing dismay over the fact that there is no single monument as a mark of respect to Rajashri, Sumalatha said, “The people must be made to remember the services of Wodeyars with reverence everyday. We should develop an attitude of gratitude towards Wodeyars. The only way is to name the Expressway after Rajashri Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.”
A few weeks ago, former Chief Minister S. M. Krishna and two Congress MLCs – Dinesh Gooli Gowda and Madhu Made Gowda – had written to Bommai to name Expressway after Rajashri Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
However, Mysore-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha had called on Gadkari and had urged him to name Bangalore-Mysore Expressway as Cauvery Expressway.
