Karnataka CM seeks to make peace with Infosys

Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday took a major proactive step to end the feud between Janata Dal (S) and Infosys by openly praising the IT major after visiting its campus in Electronic City.

"I am proud of the fact that Infosys, founded by a Kannadiga N R Narayana Murthy, is today reckoned to be among the top IT firms in the world. I am all the more happy because Infosys has brought global recognition to Bangalore," the CM said in a press statement.

The rapprochement was evident from the fact that Sudha Murthy, wife of Narayana Murthy, came to Vidhana Soudha on Friday evening, to accompany the CM to a programme where Murthy shared the platform with Kumaraswamy.

For the last 20 months, Infosys had to bear the brunt of JD (S) supremo and Kumaraswamy's father, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's ire.

Gowda had opposed the request of Infosys for 845 acres of land near Sarjapur on the outskirts of Bangalore and had even written to the then chief minister, N Dharam Singh, who led the Congress-JD (S) government, casting aspersions on the land requests of IT firms.

Gowda's outburst came after Ramesh Ramanathan of Janaagraha, accompanied by Narayana Murthy, made a presentation on regional planning to improve urban governance in the state. Gowda said that the IT sector should "keep off" issues which were beyond its ken.

The relationship between JD(S) and Infosys deteriorated further when Gowda questioned the contribution of Narayana Murthy, in his capacity as Bangalore International Airport Limited chairman, in expediting the process of implementing the airport project. An upset Murthy resigned from the post of the BIAL chairman.

It has been over three months since the new JD(S)-BJP coalition has come to power. This is the first visit by Kumaraswamy to an IT campus in the city. "I have learnt a lot about the IT sector after visiting Infosys. The government will continue to support the growth of the IT sector in Karnataka," the CM said.