India, Sept. 27 -- When industrialists recently criticised the government over Bengaluru's apocalyptic roads, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar thundered back: "Ask the Centre how much money they've given Bengaluru, despite Karnataka being the second-highest tax contributor."

Wah, Sirji! Excellent deflection. Except, we Kannadigas have a counter-question: we are the highest road tax payers in the country, what are you doing with our money?

DKS then got nostalgic about the UPA years: "When the Congress-led UPA was at the Centre, Karnataka used to get crores for infrastructure. Why did the BJP stop it?"

The answer is simple: because politicians build their coffers instead of roads.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, DKS' own Prime Minister, once a...