The decision of the H.D. Kumaraswamy government to call for global tenders for the implemention of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), puts a completely new spin on the project. On the one hand, the decision, coming just a month before the JDS’s promised “transfer of power” to the BJP, seems designed to complicate the legal wrangles, leaving future governments to bear the brunt. And, on the other hand, it seems certain to delay further if not derail completely the project that has been in the works since 1997.

Questions: Is the government move right or wrong? Whose cause is the decision intended to serve—that of the farmers whose lands are at stake, or of vested interests shadow-boxing in their name? Is the Global Infastructure Limited that has expressed interest just a benami front created to fool the public and the courts? Will the decision to annul the tripartite agreement bring further ignominy on the State in the Supreme Court, which has minced no words on earlier occasions? And, are infrastructure projects in the State becoming a victim of the whims and fancies of politicians who can’t look beyond their noses?