Panchayat institutions in Karnataka are in for bad time in Karnataka.
HUBLI, March 27, 2006
Fears about the future of the panchayat raj institutions (PRIs) in Karnataka, which were poised to open a new chapter of the financial and functional autonomy, are come true much earlier than expected under the new Karnataka Development Front regime.
The fears had been prompted by the fact that both the alliance partners of the new combination which is in office in Karnataka are alien to the concept of the empowerment of the PRIs. For the BJP, which is a dominant partner by number, it is known that the party has scant respect for the system and that the inclusion of the profession of commitment to the concept in its manifesto was only an eye wash. And the junior partner, the breakaway group of the JDS has absolutely no hang of the same, since it is ideologically barren as the things stand today
There was a flickering hope that the BJP, could do something and carry forward the programmes, which had been launched by the predecessor government, because the BJP had made a reference to the system in its manifesto. But the hopes were belied with the new Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Mr. C M Dais, making observations which are contrary to the spirit of the changes made and philosophy followed.
He made it clear on the floor of the assembly that the legislators would continue to head the task force to oversee the implementation of the rural water schemes. This comes as a total variance to the changes made through the amendment to the Karnataka Panchayat Act , under which the gram panchayats get the exclusive jurisdiction over the implementation of the rural water scheme.
The then Minister for Panchayat Raj under the Dharam Singh government refused to oblige the members when a similar demand was then made by saying that he would not like to go against the law passed. “You change the law and we can implement the new proposal”. This was the firm stand he took and he stood the ground despite the mounting pressure on him including by the then Chief Minister too.
However as a sop to the agitated legislators, the government condescended to constitute the task force under the legislators only to supervise “emergency” schemes for a period of three months till the summer season was over. Dr Mahadevappa by that time had been dropped from the Ministry as a fall out of the spat between Devegowda and Siddaramaiah. Had Mahadevappa continued he would have certainly put his foot down firmly.
But what could not be done then, has now been done by the present regime. Mr. Udasi is not stopping at that. He knows that the law as has been amended does not permit it. He has been toying with the idea of amending the law to restore the primacy of the legislators in the implementation of the rural development schemes.
This is likely to be done after the current assembly session, according to the information available. At the moment, there is discussion within the government as to whether the reamendment of the law would pass muster, in view of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments made which have endowed powers to the rural and urban local self government system. But the thinking has been that Mr. Udashi will have his way, despite the legal battle the government may have to certainly fight in the coming days. And the passage will be smoother than expected not only because of the game of numbers which favour the ruling combination but because the Congress members are not averse to changes their own government had brought.
It may be mentioned here that the Karnataka Panchayatraj Act was amended ten years after it was enacted during year 2003 by the Krishna government, which however dragged its own feet to give effect to the same. And it was done by the Dharam Singh government when the Assurance Committee of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly headed by Mr. D R Patil, took up the issue of the government redeeming its promise. As a result a government order was made in August 2004 and around 170 schemes were transferred from the state sector to the district sector to enable the PRIs to implement the same. This arrangement was formalised through the budget allocation made by Mr. Siddaramaiah in his budget estimates for the year 2005-2006 and the same has been continued in the budget for the present financial year presented by Mr. B S Yediyurappa.
The path of the democratic decentralization in Karnataka has been riddled with obstacles of sorts since the beginning. The concept of the transfer of powers to the PRIs has not been kindly taken by legislators, who fell that they are marginalisd and also by bureaucracy, which has never liked the concept accountability that the system envisages and primacy of the panchayat leaders in the governanance. What is now envisaged is the latest of the obstacles. The machinations of the political masters can only be frustrated by the vigilant public opinion and alert press. But Karnataka is not known to be strong in these two areas too.
The PRIs may ultimately gain in a prolonged fight but the time lost in the process would be precious, which can’t be undone.
(ends) 19:14 hrs. March 27, 2006
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Monday, March 27, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Northern Karnataka let down again
Northern Karnataka let down again
The nascent KDF government led by Mr. Kumaraswamy, has proved to be in no way different from its predecessor as for as giving a just deal to the Northern Karnataka.
The budget presented by the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Yediyurappa has again byepassed the Northern Karnataka in the same manner in which the Congress led governments had done in the past. This is despite the initial hopes raised by the protestations of commitment to the cause of the Northern Karnataka by none other than the two top duos, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. What is more galling has been that the BJP, which received the biggest ever political patronage from the region, has been instrumental in riding roughshod over the aspirations of the people of the Northern Karnataka for legitimate share in the developmental pie in Karnataka.. The crucial issue as for as the Northern Karnataka is concerned has been the implementation of the Nanjundappa Committee on Removal of Regional Imbalances. The Committee, which had been appointed during the early period of the Congress regime of Mr. Krishna (1999-2004), had suggested an additional investment of Rs. 15,000 crores over a seven year period to bridge the gap in the development and provide a level playing field for all the regions in the state. It had made a detailed taluka wise study of the sectors of backwardness which needed to be filled and had categorise the taluks into the developed, backwards and most backward taluks. But unfortunately, its pan Karnataka image was lost in the controversy and the Nanjundappa Committee report came to be dubbed as a report of the Northern Karnataka development. It was true that the Northern Karnataka would have been the greatest of the beneficiaries of the implementation of the report, which had as its focus the entire state and not any particular region.
Though the Committee had been specifically constituted to look into the grievances of Northern Karnataka, Dr Nanjundappa, chose to extend the scope to the entire state, brought all the taluks under the purview of the study and presented a comprehensive blue print for the development. What all was required for the state government was to provide for the additional investment and take up the implementation straightaway.
Krishna government which was initially enthusiastic about the ending the grievance of the region, suddenly turned cold feet. It coincided with the downfall of Mr. H K Patil, the then Karnataka Minister for Water Resources, one of the strong votaries of the Nanjundappa Committee report in the Krishna durbar.
It appeared that the antipathy to the report was not confined to the political leadership but also extended to the administrative spheres and the top echelons of bureaucracy, who never liked Dr Nanjundappa consistently refused to take cognizance of the report. This continued when a person from Northern Karnataka, Mr. B S Patil, became the Chief Secretary of the state for sometime. It was doubtful whether anybody in the government had seriously read the report.
Mr. Nanjundappa desired that the legislators should lobby for the implementation of the report. But it never materialized. No legislators from the Northern Karnataka had chosen to study the report and talk about it. The apathy was all pervasive.
.
Krishna would talk in enigma and riddles whenever questioned by the newsmen about the implementation of the Nanjundappa Committee report successfully managed to shelve the report
Then came the Dharam Singh government after 2004 elections. Mr. Dharam Singh also toed the line of ambivalence of his predecessor. Every time the question was raised he would say that the State had approached the Centre for assistance and it would be taken up the moment the Central assistance was made available. Now it has been the turn of the new government to prevaricate on the issue.
The State Governments have been only tinkering with the report when ever pushed to be wall to demonstrate their phony concern and commitment to the report. It would take one or two isolated issues for implementation and skirt the main issue of providing allocation to bridge the gap in the development.
The interesting aspect is that all the political parties, as a rule, have been shying away from the question of giving a new deal to the Northern Karnataka. May be lack of assertiveness on the part of the people of the region, has led to the complacent attitude. Another contributing factor has been the absence of the political leadership in the region. There was one leader of promise in the personality of Mr. H K Patil,. But his action in breaking the solidarity with the fellow regional leaders like Mr. Kharge and Mr. Dharam Singh on the eve of the 1999 election and support the candidature of Mr. Krishna for the post of the presidentship of the PCC and as the Chief Minister after 1999 election, has proved to be politically disastrous. After taking advantage, Mr. Krishna slowly clipped the wings of Mr. Patil, openly snubbed him by dropping his supporters, and unceremoniously taking away his portfolio of water resources. It has been difficult for Mr Patil to pick up the thread again.
(ends) 23:36 hrs,. March 22, 2006
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The nascent KDF government led by Mr. Kumaraswamy, has proved to be in no way different from its predecessor as for as giving a just deal to the Northern Karnataka.
The budget presented by the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Yediyurappa has again byepassed the Northern Karnataka in the same manner in which the Congress led governments had done in the past. This is despite the initial hopes raised by the protestations of commitment to the cause of the Northern Karnataka by none other than the two top duos, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. What is more galling has been that the BJP, which received the biggest ever political patronage from the region, has been instrumental in riding roughshod over the aspirations of the people of the Northern Karnataka for legitimate share in the developmental pie in Karnataka.. The crucial issue as for as the Northern Karnataka is concerned has been the implementation of the Nanjundappa Committee on Removal of Regional Imbalances. The Committee, which had been appointed during the early period of the Congress regime of Mr. Krishna (1999-2004), had suggested an additional investment of Rs. 15,000 crores over a seven year period to bridge the gap in the development and provide a level playing field for all the regions in the state. It had made a detailed taluka wise study of the sectors of backwardness which needed to be filled and had categorise the taluks into the developed, backwards and most backward taluks. But unfortunately, its pan Karnataka image was lost in the controversy and the Nanjundappa Committee report came to be dubbed as a report of the Northern Karnataka development. It was true that the Northern Karnataka would have been the greatest of the beneficiaries of the implementation of the report, which had as its focus the entire state and not any particular region.
Though the Committee had been specifically constituted to look into the grievances of Northern Karnataka, Dr Nanjundappa, chose to extend the scope to the entire state, brought all the taluks under the purview of the study and presented a comprehensive blue print for the development. What all was required for the state government was to provide for the additional investment and take up the implementation straightaway.
Krishna government which was initially enthusiastic about the ending the grievance of the region, suddenly turned cold feet. It coincided with the downfall of Mr. H K Patil, the then Karnataka Minister for Water Resources, one of the strong votaries of the Nanjundappa Committee report in the Krishna durbar.
It appeared that the antipathy to the report was not confined to the political leadership but also extended to the administrative spheres and the top echelons of bureaucracy, who never liked Dr Nanjundappa consistently refused to take cognizance of the report. This continued when a person from Northern Karnataka, Mr. B S Patil, became the Chief Secretary of the state for sometime. It was doubtful whether anybody in the government had seriously read the report.
Mr. Nanjundappa desired that the legislators should lobby for the implementation of the report. But it never materialized. No legislators from the Northern Karnataka had chosen to study the report and talk about it. The apathy was all pervasive.
.
Krishna would talk in enigma and riddles whenever questioned by the newsmen about the implementation of the Nanjundappa Committee report successfully managed to shelve the report
Then came the Dharam Singh government after 2004 elections. Mr. Dharam Singh also toed the line of ambivalence of his predecessor. Every time the question was raised he would say that the State had approached the Centre for assistance and it would be taken up the moment the Central assistance was made available. Now it has been the turn of the new government to prevaricate on the issue.
The State Governments have been only tinkering with the report when ever pushed to be wall to demonstrate their phony concern and commitment to the report. It would take one or two isolated issues for implementation and skirt the main issue of providing allocation to bridge the gap in the development.
The interesting aspect is that all the political parties, as a rule, have been shying away from the question of giving a new deal to the Northern Karnataka. May be lack of assertiveness on the part of the people of the region, has led to the complacent attitude. Another contributing factor has been the absence of the political leadership in the region. There was one leader of promise in the personality of Mr. H K Patil,. But his action in breaking the solidarity with the fellow regional leaders like Mr. Kharge and Mr. Dharam Singh on the eve of the 1999 election and support the candidature of Mr. Krishna for the post of the presidentship of the PCC and as the Chief Minister after 1999 election, has proved to be politically disastrous. After taking advantage, Mr. Krishna slowly clipped the wings of Mr. Patil, openly snubbed him by dropping his supporters, and unceremoniously taking away his portfolio of water resources. It has been difficult for Mr Patil to pick up the thread again.
(ends) 23:36 hrs,. March 22, 2006
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Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Hardly any cheer
Hardly cheerful
There is hardly anything to cheer as for as Karnataka is concerned in the railway budget for the year 2006-07, except for the fact that the Samparka Kranti Express connecting national capital with the state capital of Bangalore would run via Arasikere –Hubli- Belgaum and a slight increase in the allocation for the ongoing railway projects in the state. The new trains which are to be introduced from Bangalore serve other states more than Karnataka.
For a long time, there had been demand that the Samparka Kranti Express between Bangalore and Newdelhi hardly served Karnataka in its existing route, which was via Guntakal and Secunderabad. And the change of route would mean that it would through the Karnataka area right from Bangalore upto Belgaum and Miraj before entering Maharashtra for its onward journey.
While it is true that the downward trend in the investment in the ongoing railway projects in Karnataka, which had been noticed for the past couple of years, none of them are anywhere near reaching the immediate goal to give the state the satisfaction of having got something tangible after a long wait.
The Railways have provided a little more than Rs. 200 crores in the budget for the nearly two dozen ongoing projects in Karnataka, the outlay for which stands now at around Rs. 5000 crores, and the state needs still Rs. 4100 crores for the completion of the projects without the cost escalation. If the present trend of investment is to be continued for the years to follow, the Karnataka will have to wait for 20 years for the completion of the project, provided there is no upward revision of the costs. The situation as for as the four projects taken up as a part of the cost sharing experiment with the state government, is in no way different, with the South Western Railway officials claiming that the failure on the part of the state government to meet its part of the bargain, has impeded the progress. The State Government has not exactly helped to clarify the matters, since its plans for the participation in the projects, gets hardly reflected in the budget, thus leading to speculation as to whether the State Government is really interested in accelerating the pace of the development of the projects at all.
It may be incidentally mentioned here that Karnataka had always nursed a feeling of neglect at the hands of the railways for want of a focused approach towards the holistic development of the state, mainly because the state came under the administrative jurisdiction of at least four zonal railways. It was from this point of view that the formation of the South Western Railway with headquarters at Hubli had evoked lot of expectations in the minds of the people about the pace of the railway projects being expedited. But the South Western Railway, as has now been formed still excludes at least one fourth of the Karnataka areas, namely the North Eastern portion comprising of the four districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur and Koppal from the purview, with the area being tagged on to the South Central Railway, while some small portions still continuing to be under the jurisdiction of Central Railway and Southern Railway in Gulbarga and Dakshina Kannada districts.
Karnataka has at the moment, around two dozen ongoing railway projects envisaging a total investment of Rs. 4953 crores. These include seven new line projects namely, Kottur-Harihar (65 kms), Kadur Chikmagalur ; Hassan Bangalore via Shravanabelagola (166 kms); Hubli Ankola (165 kms); Bangalore-Satyamangalam (260 km); Dharmavaram Penukonda Puttaparthi (60km) all coming under the South Western Railway and Gulbarga Bidar (140 kms); Munirabad Mehboobnagar ( 246 km); and Raichur Gadwal ( 67 kms); seven gauge conversion works – namely Bangalore Hubli-Shimoga-Talaguppa; (630km), Arsikere Hassan Mangalore (236 kms), Solapur-Gadag (300 km), Mysore Hassan (118 kms) , Yeswhantpur Salem (197 kms), Mysore Chamarajanagar with Extension upto Mettupalyam (148 kms), Yelahanka Chikballapur Kolar Bangarpet all under South Western Railway . Besides, there are six projects pertaining to the doubling of the lines namely Whitefield Bangarpet Kuppam (81 kms), Bangalore-Kengeri, Kengeri Ramanagaram, Yeswantpur-Tumkur (64 km), Bangalore Whitefield-KRPuram all under South Western Railway and the Reninguta Bellary under the South Central Railway.
Karnataka got the real breakthrough as for as railway development projects were concerned, during the days of Mr. Jaffer Sharief as the Union Minister for Railways in the first half of the nineties and it was during this phase that major strides were taken to bring the state in the broadgauge map of the country, as a part of the unigauge plan drawn up by the Railways then. Substantial work of broadgauging of the line linking Miraj with Bangalore via Hubli, Guntakal with Bangalore on one side and Hubli on the other, Bangalore-My sore were taken up for gauge conversion programme and a new railway line providing an alternative link between Bellary to Bangalore via Chitradurga were laid and the Hassan Mangalore line became a reality. But after the exit of Mr. Sharief, there has been a substantial slowdown of the gauge conversion and the new line programmes. Almost all the projects initiated during the period, have been practically languishing for want of sufficient allocation and attention. Added to this have been the projects sanctioned and included in the railway budget during the days of the United Front Government headed by Mr. H D Devegowda.
Kottur Harihar new line, which would provide an alternate cost effective interior route for the movement of goods and passenger traffic, is small projects looking to the investment and the line length. But it had had long gestation period and it was listed under the projects recommended for being frozen, before being put on track.
Hubli Ankola new line project has been a project designed to meet the aspirations of the people of the state, who have been dreaming about it for over century designed to provide a port connection to the hinterland of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has been caught in a quagmire of environmental project and has been hardly making any progress.
The Munirabad Mehboobnagar, Gulbarga Bidar , the Raichur Gadwal, have hardly made any progress. The only new line project, which has been able to make substantial progress has been the Hassan Bangalore via Shravanabelagola, which has been completed upto Shravanabelagola with more than half of the outlay having been spent.
The 300 km Solapur Gadag broadgauge conversion via Bijapur and Bagalkot has remained a classical case of neglect. The project had been essentially designed to end the metergauge island and provide another north south corridor for the movement of the goods traffic via Solapur Bijapur and Gadag. Thanks to public uproar and the agitation, the railways completed the first 100 km stretch upto Bijapur and the progress in the latter 200 km stretch has been inexorably slow. It has been a typical case of missed deadlines with promise of the early completion going awry. There has been nono word as yet as to whether the link upto Bagalkot would be provided this year and when exactly Bagalkot Gadag would be covered. The only project to show some progress has been the Arsikere Hassan Mangalore.
The state has a cost sharing arrangement as for as four projects are concerned namely, , namely the Kottur Harihar newline, the Arsikere Hassan Mangalore and Solapur Gadag broadgauge conversions, and the two doubling of the line projects. And the extent of participation varies from project to project. This has hardly achieved the objective of increasing the pace because of the uncertainty over the flow of funds from the state government, as is openly quoted openly by the South Western Railway authorities
(ends) 04:30:47 hrs. March 8, 2006
There is hardly anything to cheer as for as Karnataka is concerned in the railway budget for the year 2006-07, except for the fact that the Samparka Kranti Express connecting national capital with the state capital of Bangalore would run via Arasikere –Hubli- Belgaum and a slight increase in the allocation for the ongoing railway projects in the state. The new trains which are to be introduced from Bangalore serve other states more than Karnataka.
For a long time, there had been demand that the Samparka Kranti Express between Bangalore and Newdelhi hardly served Karnataka in its existing route, which was via Guntakal and Secunderabad. And the change of route would mean that it would through the Karnataka area right from Bangalore upto Belgaum and Miraj before entering Maharashtra for its onward journey.
While it is true that the downward trend in the investment in the ongoing railway projects in Karnataka, which had been noticed for the past couple of years, none of them are anywhere near reaching the immediate goal to give the state the satisfaction of having got something tangible after a long wait.
The Railways have provided a little more than Rs. 200 crores in the budget for the nearly two dozen ongoing projects in Karnataka, the outlay for which stands now at around Rs. 5000 crores, and the state needs still Rs. 4100 crores for the completion of the projects without the cost escalation. If the present trend of investment is to be continued for the years to follow, the Karnataka will have to wait for 20 years for the completion of the project, provided there is no upward revision of the costs. The situation as for as the four projects taken up as a part of the cost sharing experiment with the state government, is in no way different, with the South Western Railway officials claiming that the failure on the part of the state government to meet its part of the bargain, has impeded the progress. The State Government has not exactly helped to clarify the matters, since its plans for the participation in the projects, gets hardly reflected in the budget, thus leading to speculation as to whether the State Government is really interested in accelerating the pace of the development of the projects at all.
It may be incidentally mentioned here that Karnataka had always nursed a feeling of neglect at the hands of the railways for want of a focused approach towards the holistic development of the state, mainly because the state came under the administrative jurisdiction of at least four zonal railways. It was from this point of view that the formation of the South Western Railway with headquarters at Hubli had evoked lot of expectations in the minds of the people about the pace of the railway projects being expedited. But the South Western Railway, as has now been formed still excludes at least one fourth of the Karnataka areas, namely the North Eastern portion comprising of the four districts of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur and Koppal from the purview, with the area being tagged on to the South Central Railway, while some small portions still continuing to be under the jurisdiction of Central Railway and Southern Railway in Gulbarga and Dakshina Kannada districts.
Karnataka has at the moment, around two dozen ongoing railway projects envisaging a total investment of Rs. 4953 crores. These include seven new line projects namely, Kottur-Harihar (65 kms), Kadur Chikmagalur ; Hassan Bangalore via Shravanabelagola (166 kms); Hubli Ankola (165 kms); Bangalore-Satyamangalam (260 km); Dharmavaram Penukonda Puttaparthi (60km) all coming under the South Western Railway and Gulbarga Bidar (140 kms); Munirabad Mehboobnagar ( 246 km); and Raichur Gadwal ( 67 kms); seven gauge conversion works – namely Bangalore Hubli-Shimoga-Talaguppa; (630km), Arsikere Hassan Mangalore (236 kms), Solapur-Gadag (300 km), Mysore Hassan (118 kms) , Yeswhantpur Salem (197 kms), Mysore Chamarajanagar with Extension upto Mettupalyam (148 kms), Yelahanka Chikballapur Kolar Bangarpet all under South Western Railway . Besides, there are six projects pertaining to the doubling of the lines namely Whitefield Bangarpet Kuppam (81 kms), Bangalore-Kengeri, Kengeri Ramanagaram, Yeswantpur-Tumkur (64 km), Bangalore Whitefield-KRPuram all under South Western Railway and the Reninguta Bellary under the South Central Railway.
Karnataka got the real breakthrough as for as railway development projects were concerned, during the days of Mr. Jaffer Sharief as the Union Minister for Railways in the first half of the nineties and it was during this phase that major strides were taken to bring the state in the broadgauge map of the country, as a part of the unigauge plan drawn up by the Railways then. Substantial work of broadgauging of the line linking Miraj with Bangalore via Hubli, Guntakal with Bangalore on one side and Hubli on the other, Bangalore-My sore were taken up for gauge conversion programme and a new railway line providing an alternative link between Bellary to Bangalore via Chitradurga were laid and the Hassan Mangalore line became a reality. But after the exit of Mr. Sharief, there has been a substantial slowdown of the gauge conversion and the new line programmes. Almost all the projects initiated during the period, have been practically languishing for want of sufficient allocation and attention. Added to this have been the projects sanctioned and included in the railway budget during the days of the United Front Government headed by Mr. H D Devegowda.
Kottur Harihar new line, which would provide an alternate cost effective interior route for the movement of goods and passenger traffic, is small projects looking to the investment and the line length. But it had had long gestation period and it was listed under the projects recommended for being frozen, before being put on track.
Hubli Ankola new line project has been a project designed to meet the aspirations of the people of the state, who have been dreaming about it for over century designed to provide a port connection to the hinterland of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. It has been caught in a quagmire of environmental project and has been hardly making any progress.
The Munirabad Mehboobnagar, Gulbarga Bidar , the Raichur Gadwal, have hardly made any progress. The only new line project, which has been able to make substantial progress has been the Hassan Bangalore via Shravanabelagola, which has been completed upto Shravanabelagola with more than half of the outlay having been spent.
The 300 km Solapur Gadag broadgauge conversion via Bijapur and Bagalkot has remained a classical case of neglect. The project had been essentially designed to end the metergauge island and provide another north south corridor for the movement of the goods traffic via Solapur Bijapur and Gadag. Thanks to public uproar and the agitation, the railways completed the first 100 km stretch upto Bijapur and the progress in the latter 200 km stretch has been inexorably slow. It has been a typical case of missed deadlines with promise of the early completion going awry. There has been nono word as yet as to whether the link upto Bagalkot would be provided this year and when exactly Bagalkot Gadag would be covered. The only project to show some progress has been the Arsikere Hassan Mangalore.
The state has a cost sharing arrangement as for as four projects are concerned namely, , namely the Kottur Harihar newline, the Arsikere Hassan Mangalore and Solapur Gadag broadgauge conversions, and the two doubling of the line projects. And the extent of participation varies from project to project. This has hardly achieved the objective of increasing the pace because of the uncertainty over the flow of funds from the state government, as is openly quoted openly by the South Western Railway authorities
(ends) 04:30:47 hrs. March 8, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Something basically wrong with Karnataka?
Something basically wrong with Karnataka?
Is there anything basically wrong with the psyche of the people, the government and the politicians of Karnataka, that it always gets a raw deal from the Centre, whichever party government may be in power at the Centre or the State.
The latest instance has been the totally raw deal that the Karnataka has got in the Railway budget. The State finds that it has been byepassed in almost all major sectors. On the paper, the state gets four new trains. But if you deep into the matter, the Karnataka connection remains limited to Bangalore being the station of origin. None of them serve the state in any way and mostly serve the states other than Karnataka.
The allocation to the ongoing projects be it the new line projects, the gauge conversion or the doubling of lines is poor. It has also been the same fate of the four railway projects, which are being executed on the cost sharing basis, with the State Government meeting part of the costs. Uncertainty dogs the Solapur Bijapur Bagalkot Gadag conversion works, which continues to be metegauge island hampering the movement of the goods traffic. There is no word as to when the work which has been lingering on for more than a decade would be completed. The continued delay has made the investment already made in providing the broadgauge link upto Bijapur also infructuous. The railways are not getting the return for the investment for the delay in the completion of the scheme, which would open a new internal corridor for the movement of the goods traffic between the north and the south.
On the other hand the Bihar and Tamilnadu have walked away with the lionshare of the projects. One can understand Bihar being favoured by the Railway Minister, who belongs to Bihar. The Tamilnadu, which has only a minister of state in the Railways, has managed to walk away with the bigger slice of the cake of railway projects. Karantaka had had more than half a dozen ministers, who held the charge as the Railway Minister. Karnataka did not benefit in anyway, except during the tenure of Mr. Jaffer Sharief as the Railway Minister. But for the initiative taken by Mr. Sharief, Karnataka would not have got its broadgauge net work completed. Had Mr. Sharief not made his exit under the shadow of a scandal, perhaps, the Solapur-Gadag broadgauging would have been complete.
This is not the first time that Karnataka has been given this treatment. The continued cavalier treatment meted out to Karnataka in meeting its legitimate development needs should make Karnataka people think as to what is wrong with us. It is clear that Karnataka’s needs are not taken seriously by the powers that be in Newdelhi, whether or not the Central government is friendly to the State are not.
As for as railway projects are concerned, the Karnataka’s raw deal has its origin in our own inability to put across the views to the Centre at the right time and do the follow-up matter. At no time any of the State Governments in Karnataka, have done the follow-up work seriously to impress on the Centre. The State writes letter only when there is local pressure. Otherwise it hardly bothers. And forgets after writing the letter. The Karnataka got the new Railway Zone not because the State Government did anything worthwhile but only because the Railways wanted to give it.
This is not happening only in the railway sector. But in other sectors as well. When Congress ruled both Centre and Karnataka, the state could not get the permanent bench of the Karnataka High Court for Northern Karnataka. Karnataka always finds that in the interstate disputes, it is at the receiving end with the opponents, including the tiny state of Goa cocking a snook as it were to the state. Andhra Pradesh had got the issue decided in favour, when a dispute about the height of the Alamatti dam had been raised during the days of Mr. Devegowda as the Prime Minister.
No state government in Karnataka has bothered to utilize the services of the MPs in any effective manner. No information is given or shared with them on the pending projects and for carrying the lobbying in Newdelhi. When Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde was the Chief Minister, he had started the practice of periodically publishing the correspondence with the Central Government with a view to keeping people posted with the efforts being made. But the practice has been subsequently stopped for reasons known to them by his successors.
Karnataka, has hardly bothered to post a Representative in Newdelhi to chase the projects. Mr. Basavaraj Rayareddy appointed as one during the Patel regime had done excellent work but the tenure was too shortlived. Krishna had appointed Jayachadra more to placate him for having dropped from the ministry than doing any lobbying.
Another basic malady which has been affecting Karnataka, is the inability on the part of the politicians to rise above the narrow partisan considerations as for as the development matters are concerned. While Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh are known to do that and always walk away with the prize, partisan approach of the politicians has always affected the state very badly.
It is high time, the politicians do some soul searching and concentrate on doing some good turn to the state.
(ends) 20:58 hrs. 25-Feb-06
=====================0000000000000000===============
Is there anything basically wrong with the psyche of the people, the government and the politicians of Karnataka, that it always gets a raw deal from the Centre, whichever party government may be in power at the Centre or the State.
The latest instance has been the totally raw deal that the Karnataka has got in the Railway budget. The State finds that it has been byepassed in almost all major sectors. On the paper, the state gets four new trains. But if you deep into the matter, the Karnataka connection remains limited to Bangalore being the station of origin. None of them serve the state in any way and mostly serve the states other than Karnataka.
The allocation to the ongoing projects be it the new line projects, the gauge conversion or the doubling of lines is poor. It has also been the same fate of the four railway projects, which are being executed on the cost sharing basis, with the State Government meeting part of the costs. Uncertainty dogs the Solapur Bijapur Bagalkot Gadag conversion works, which continues to be metegauge island hampering the movement of the goods traffic. There is no word as to when the work which has been lingering on for more than a decade would be completed. The continued delay has made the investment already made in providing the broadgauge link upto Bijapur also infructuous. The railways are not getting the return for the investment for the delay in the completion of the scheme, which would open a new internal corridor for the movement of the goods traffic between the north and the south.
On the other hand the Bihar and Tamilnadu have walked away with the lionshare of the projects. One can understand Bihar being favoured by the Railway Minister, who belongs to Bihar. The Tamilnadu, which has only a minister of state in the Railways, has managed to walk away with the bigger slice of the cake of railway projects. Karantaka had had more than half a dozen ministers, who held the charge as the Railway Minister. Karnataka did not benefit in anyway, except during the tenure of Mr. Jaffer Sharief as the Railway Minister. But for the initiative taken by Mr. Sharief, Karnataka would not have got its broadgauge net work completed. Had Mr. Sharief not made his exit under the shadow of a scandal, perhaps, the Solapur-Gadag broadgauging would have been complete.
This is not the first time that Karnataka has been given this treatment. The continued cavalier treatment meted out to Karnataka in meeting its legitimate development needs should make Karnataka people think as to what is wrong with us. It is clear that Karnataka’s needs are not taken seriously by the powers that be in Newdelhi, whether or not the Central government is friendly to the State are not.
As for as railway projects are concerned, the Karnataka’s raw deal has its origin in our own inability to put across the views to the Centre at the right time and do the follow-up matter. At no time any of the State Governments in Karnataka, have done the follow-up work seriously to impress on the Centre. The State writes letter only when there is local pressure. Otherwise it hardly bothers. And forgets after writing the letter. The Karnataka got the new Railway Zone not because the State Government did anything worthwhile but only because the Railways wanted to give it.
This is not happening only in the railway sector. But in other sectors as well. When Congress ruled both Centre and Karnataka, the state could not get the permanent bench of the Karnataka High Court for Northern Karnataka. Karnataka always finds that in the interstate disputes, it is at the receiving end with the opponents, including the tiny state of Goa cocking a snook as it were to the state. Andhra Pradesh had got the issue decided in favour, when a dispute about the height of the Alamatti dam had been raised during the days of Mr. Devegowda as the Prime Minister.
No state government in Karnataka has bothered to utilize the services of the MPs in any effective manner. No information is given or shared with them on the pending projects and for carrying the lobbying in Newdelhi. When Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde was the Chief Minister, he had started the practice of periodically publishing the correspondence with the Central Government with a view to keeping people posted with the efforts being made. But the practice has been subsequently stopped for reasons known to them by his successors.
Karnataka, has hardly bothered to post a Representative in Newdelhi to chase the projects. Mr. Basavaraj Rayareddy appointed as one during the Patel regime had done excellent work but the tenure was too shortlived. Krishna had appointed Jayachadra more to placate him for having dropped from the ministry than doing any lobbying.
Another basic malady which has been affecting Karnataka, is the inability on the part of the politicians to rise above the narrow partisan considerations as for as the development matters are concerned. While Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh are known to do that and always walk away with the prize, partisan approach of the politicians has always affected the state very badly.
It is high time, the politicians do some soul searching and concentrate on doing some good turn to the state.
(ends) 20:58 hrs. 25-Feb-06
=====================0000000000000000===============
Sunday, February 19, 2006
devegowda upto his tricks again
Devegowda upto his tricks once again
One must admire Mr. Devegowda for his perseverance and manipulative tactics.
His latest move to expel the JDS members including his son turned new Chief Minister; Mr. Kumaraswamy under suspension is an instance in point.
Now that his son his firmly in the saddle, he brandishes the sword of discipline against the prodigals, fully knowing that it hardly harms them. For all intents and purposes, this hardly affects the Kumaraswamy ministry and Mr. Gowda has absolutely no intention to pull the rug under the feet of the new government.
The only rationale which lies behind the move is only an attempt on the part of Mr. Devegowda, whose secular credentials has taken a good beating in the act of political adventurism indulged in by his son, which helped the latter to catapult as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The latest move of Mr. Gowda has too many gaping holes to carry any convictions. He appears to be protesting too much and this exposes his intentions once again.
It is now almost a common knowledge that every line of the political script which put Kumaraswamy in the driver’s seat had been scripted by Mr. Devegowda. For Mr. Kumaraswamy would not do anything without the express permission of the father. put as the Chief Minister.
The political prospects of the JDS were literally in the dumps, with the drubbing the party had got in the panchayat polls. It was practically the end of the political road for Mr. Gowda, his son and his son since any move on the part of the Congress to go in for snap election, would have sealed the political fate of the party, the aspirations of the father and son. It was now or never situation for the party, the father and the son. And the drama unfolded.
The father put in the appearance of fretting and fuming even his son went ahead with the task and succeeded. Everything was done to steer the move clear of technical and practical hurdles. And Mr. Gowda conveniently forgot to take disciplinary action, which would have helped the party to keep the flock together.
In a huff, as it were, Mr. Gowda also announced the resignation as the party president, which hardly carried any conviction. It now transpires that it was ploy. For he has now decided to relent on his move and continue as the President.
His latest move comes in the wake of the demand in the context of the subtle criticism made within the party at the national level with several leaders coming expressing their dissatisfaction over the manner in which party forsake its secular credentials to befriend the BJP to come to power. Mr. Gowda appears to go by the popular demand at the party level, while fully knowing that this has hardly any impact on the future of the ministry.
Mr. Gowda’s hand is also seen in keeping the senior ministers out of the ministry. Everybody except Mr. Sindhia were too eager to join the ministry. This included Mr. M P Prakash the former Deputy Chief Minister, who chose to go with Kumaraswamy at the time of the confidence vote. All of them have been left high and dry. Now Mr. Gowda has been planning to put Mr. Prakash as the state party chief, which will ensure that Mr. Prakash does not join the ministry in any capacity, so that his son has complete control over the management of the party led government.
(Ends) 08:51 hrs February 20, 2006
=========================000000000000000============
One must admire Mr. Devegowda for his perseverance and manipulative tactics.
His latest move to expel the JDS members including his son turned new Chief Minister; Mr. Kumaraswamy under suspension is an instance in point.
Now that his son his firmly in the saddle, he brandishes the sword of discipline against the prodigals, fully knowing that it hardly harms them. For all intents and purposes, this hardly affects the Kumaraswamy ministry and Mr. Gowda has absolutely no intention to pull the rug under the feet of the new government.
The only rationale which lies behind the move is only an attempt on the part of Mr. Devegowda, whose secular credentials has taken a good beating in the act of political adventurism indulged in by his son, which helped the latter to catapult as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The latest move of Mr. Gowda has too many gaping holes to carry any convictions. He appears to be protesting too much and this exposes his intentions once again.
It is now almost a common knowledge that every line of the political script which put Kumaraswamy in the driver’s seat had been scripted by Mr. Devegowda. For Mr. Kumaraswamy would not do anything without the express permission of the father. put as the Chief Minister.
The political prospects of the JDS were literally in the dumps, with the drubbing the party had got in the panchayat polls. It was practically the end of the political road for Mr. Gowda, his son and his son since any move on the part of the Congress to go in for snap election, would have sealed the political fate of the party, the aspirations of the father and son. It was now or never situation for the party, the father and the son. And the drama unfolded.
The father put in the appearance of fretting and fuming even his son went ahead with the task and succeeded. Everything was done to steer the move clear of technical and practical hurdles. And Mr. Gowda conveniently forgot to take disciplinary action, which would have helped the party to keep the flock together.
In a huff, as it were, Mr. Gowda also announced the resignation as the party president, which hardly carried any conviction. It now transpires that it was ploy. For he has now decided to relent on his move and continue as the President.
His latest move comes in the wake of the demand in the context of the subtle criticism made within the party at the national level with several leaders coming expressing their dissatisfaction over the manner in which party forsake its secular credentials to befriend the BJP to come to power. Mr. Gowda appears to go by the popular demand at the party level, while fully knowing that this has hardly any impact on the future of the ministry.
Mr. Gowda’s hand is also seen in keeping the senior ministers out of the ministry. Everybody except Mr. Sindhia were too eager to join the ministry. This included Mr. M P Prakash the former Deputy Chief Minister, who chose to go with Kumaraswamy at the time of the confidence vote. All of them have been left high and dry. Now Mr. Gowda has been planning to put Mr. Prakash as the state party chief, which will ensure that Mr. Prakash does not join the ministry in any capacity, so that his son has complete control over the management of the party led government.
(Ends) 08:51 hrs February 20, 2006
=========================000000000000000============
Devegowda upto his tricks once again
One must admire Mr. Devegowda for his perseverance and manipulative tactics.
His latest move to expel the JDS members including his son turned new Chief Minister; Mr. Kumaraswamy under suspension is an instance in point.
Now that his son his firmly in the saddle, he brandishes the sword of discipline against the prodigals, fully knowing that it hardly harms them. For all intents and purposes, this hardly affects the Kumaraswamy ministry and Mr. Gowda has absolutely no intention to pull the rug under the feet of the new government.
The only rationale which lies behind the move is only an attempt on the part of Mr. Devegowda, whose secular credentials has taken a good beating in the act of political adventurism indulged in by his son, which helped the latter to catapult as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The latest move of Mr. Gowda has too many gaping holes to carry any convictions. He appears to be protesting too much and this exposes his intentions once again.
It is now almost a common knowledge that every line of the political script which put Kumaraswamy in the driver’s seat had been scripted by Mr. Devegowda. For Mr. Kumaraswamy would not do anything without the express permission of the father. put as the Chief Minister.
The political prospects of the JDS were literally in the dumps, with the drubbing the party had got in the panchayat polls. It was practically the end of the political road for Mr. Gowda, his son and his son since any move on the part of the Congress to go in for snap election, would have sealed the political fate of the party, the aspirations of the father and son. It was now or never situation for the party, the father and the son. And the drama unfolded.
The father put in the appearance of fretting and fuming even his son went ahead with the task and succeeded. Everything was done to steer the move clear of technical and practical hurdles. And Mr. Gowda conveniently forgot to take disciplinary action, which would have helped the party to keep the flock together.
In a huff, as it were, Mr. Gowda also announced the resignation as the party president, which hardly carried any conviction. It now transpires that it was ploy. For he has now decided to relent on his move and continue as the President.
His latest move comes in the wake of the demand in the context of the subtle criticism made within the party at the national level with several leaders coming expressing their dissatisfaction over the manner in which party forsake its secular credentials to befriend the BJP to come to power. Mr. Gowda appears to go by the popular demand at the party level, while fully knowing that this has hardly any impact on the future of the ministry.
Mr. Gowda’s hand is also seen in keeping the senior ministers out of the ministry. Everybody except Mr. Sindhia were too eager to join the ministry. This included Mr. M P Prakash the former Deputy Chief Minister, who chose to go with Kumaraswamy at the time of the confidence vote. All of them have been left high and dry. Now Mr. Gowda has been planning to put Mr. Prakash as the state party chief, which will ensure that Mr. Prakash does not join the ministry in any capacity, so that his son has complete control over the management of the party led government.
(Ends) 08:51 hrs February 20, 2006
=========================000000000000000============
One must admire Mr. Devegowda for his perseverance and manipulative tactics.
His latest move to expel the JDS members including his son turned new Chief Minister; Mr. Kumaraswamy under suspension is an instance in point.
Now that his son his firmly in the saddle, he brandishes the sword of discipline against the prodigals, fully knowing that it hardly harms them. For all intents and purposes, this hardly affects the Kumaraswamy ministry and Mr. Gowda has absolutely no intention to pull the rug under the feet of the new government.
The only rationale which lies behind the move is only an attempt on the part of Mr. Devegowda, whose secular credentials has taken a good beating in the act of political adventurism indulged in by his son, which helped the latter to catapult as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The latest move of Mr. Gowda has too many gaping holes to carry any convictions. He appears to be protesting too much and this exposes his intentions once again.
It is now almost a common knowledge that every line of the political script which put Kumaraswamy in the driver’s seat had been scripted by Mr. Devegowda. For Mr. Kumaraswamy would not do anything without the express permission of the father. put as the Chief Minister.
The political prospects of the JDS were literally in the dumps, with the drubbing the party had got in the panchayat polls. It was practically the end of the political road for Mr. Gowda, his son and his son since any move on the part of the Congress to go in for snap election, would have sealed the political fate of the party, the aspirations of the father and son. It was now or never situation for the party, the father and the son. And the drama unfolded.
The father put in the appearance of fretting and fuming even his son went ahead with the task and succeeded. Everything was done to steer the move clear of technical and practical hurdles. And Mr. Gowda conveniently forgot to take disciplinary action, which would have helped the party to keep the flock together.
In a huff, as it were, Mr. Gowda also announced the resignation as the party president, which hardly carried any conviction. It now transpires that it was ploy. For he has now decided to relent on his move and continue as the President.
His latest move comes in the wake of the demand in the context of the subtle criticism made within the party at the national level with several leaders coming expressing their dissatisfaction over the manner in which party forsake its secular credentials to befriend the BJP to come to power. Mr. Gowda appears to go by the popular demand at the party level, while fully knowing that this has hardly any impact on the future of the ministry.
Mr. Gowda’s hand is also seen in keeping the senior ministers out of the ministry. Everybody except Mr. Sindhia were too eager to join the ministry. This included Mr. M P Prakash the former Deputy Chief Minister, who chose to go with Kumaraswamy at the time of the confidence vote. All of them have been left high and dry. Now Mr. Gowda has been planning to put Mr. Prakash as the state party chief, which will ensure that Mr. Prakash does not join the ministry in any capacity, so that his son has complete control over the management of the party led government.
(Ends) 08:51 hrs February 20, 2006
=========================000000000000000============
Raw deal to Northern Karnataka
As expected the present government has proved to be in no way different from the predecessor government as for as giving the proverbial raw deal to the Northern Karnataka.
The Northern Karnataka finds itself literally cheated very subtlety by the new rulers, the most guilty party being the BJP, with the JDS being comparatively liberal. Of the twelve nominees of the BJP including the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Yediyurappa, only four belong to the Northern Karnataka This is the reward that the BJP has chose to pay to the Northern Karnataka region, which has helped the party to become the single largest political party in the 224 member Legislative Assembly. The bulk of the support for the party has come from the Bombay Karnataka sub region. The BJP has proved to be too ungrateful to the Northern Karnataka, which has given the party the political clout that it needed in the present reckoning. It has sought to accommodate the nominees of the southern Karnataka region in general and the nominees from the Karnataka Legislative Council in particular at the cost of the Northern Karnataka.
On the other hand the JDS has been able to give a good deal to the Northern region. Of the ten nominees from the JDS quota, as many as six come from Northern Karnataka. This is notwithstanding the poor patronage it got in the hustings from the region...
But the story of discrimination becomes more palpable when it comes to the distribution of the portfolios. Both the parties, have kept major portfolios have been kept away from the purview of the nominees from the Northern Karnataka.
Consider the portfolios which have been allocated to the Northern Karnataka from the region, namely Primary and Secondary Education (Mr. Basavaraj Horatti), Revenue (Mr. Jagadish Shettar), Labour and Minority Affairs (Mr. Iqbal Ansari), Agricultural Marketing (Mr. Sharanabasappa Darshnapur), Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (Mr. C M Udashi), Youth Services and Sports (Mr. Alkod Hanumanthappa), Food and Civil Supplies (Govind Karjol), Agriculture (Bandeppa Kashempur), Social Welfare (Balachandra Jarakiholi), Tourism and Textiles (Sriramulu).
The portfolios which are considered as weighty namely, the Home, Urban Development, Public Works, Energy, Large and Medium Industries, Infrastructure Development, Water Resources, Housing, Transport, Small Scale industries to name a few, have been kept out of the purview of the Northern Karnataka. The most glaring have been the manner in which the portfolio of Major Irrigation, has been allotted.
The major irrigation covers the plans for irrigation from the two of the major basins, the Krishna and Cauvery. In the case of Cauvery basin development, there is hardly anything new needs to be done. The Karnataka, has its hand and foot tied by the Cauvery Tribunal as for as the expansion of the irrigation facilities are concerned. One is only waiting for the long awaited verdict from the Tribunal, which is expected to formalise the restrictions already placed on Karnataka.
Under the circumstances, all the hopes of any major breakthrough in the harnessing of the irrigation portfolios now rest with the Krishna basin alone, which lies mainly in the Northern Karnataka region. But this portfolio, has been given to Mr. Eswarappa of the BJP, who belongs to the BJP.
Krishna dispute also stands at a crucial stage. The Karnataka, which has failed to utilize the full share of the allocation of water given under the Scheme A of the Bachawat Tribunal, faces the crucial task of saving the unutilized share of water before the Second Tribunal headed by Mr. Brajesh Mishra. And also make out a case for equitable share in the share of the surplus water, which is to be adjudicated. Karnataka needs to tread more carefully before advocating its case before the Tribunal and quicken the pace of the work on the existing ongoing projects.
It may be incidentally mentioned here, that the BJP as an opposition party for years in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Its understanding of the crucial issues pertaining to the Krishna and Cauvery, has been shockingly poor. At no stage, the party had had any clear concept of the issues involved and the interests of the states involved. The party has been cool when ever the state government had got in trouble with the NDA government in matter of clearance for the irrigation projects. How is it expected to handle the crucial sector this times remains to be seen. The new minister has already given expression to his ignorance by making some inappropriate observations on the Cauvery basin projects at Mysore.
The utmost need of the hour for the region is the infrastructural development and the PWD and Infrastructure Development have been kept away from the region.
The only saving grace has been the allocation of the portfolio of the rural development, and both portfolios pertaining to this have come to the two nominees of the Northern Karnataka namely the Udashi and Govind Karjol. But the tragedy here is that the BJP’s commitment to the concept of democratic development, has been only skin deep.
(ends) 07:01 hrs. February 20, 2006
=======================00000000000000000==================
The Northern Karnataka finds itself literally cheated very subtlety by the new rulers, the most guilty party being the BJP, with the JDS being comparatively liberal. Of the twelve nominees of the BJP including the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Yediyurappa, only four belong to the Northern Karnataka This is the reward that the BJP has chose to pay to the Northern Karnataka region, which has helped the party to become the single largest political party in the 224 member Legislative Assembly. The bulk of the support for the party has come from the Bombay Karnataka sub region. The BJP has proved to be too ungrateful to the Northern Karnataka, which has given the party the political clout that it needed in the present reckoning. It has sought to accommodate the nominees of the southern Karnataka region in general and the nominees from the Karnataka Legislative Council in particular at the cost of the Northern Karnataka.
On the other hand the JDS has been able to give a good deal to the Northern region. Of the ten nominees from the JDS quota, as many as six come from Northern Karnataka. This is notwithstanding the poor patronage it got in the hustings from the region...
But the story of discrimination becomes more palpable when it comes to the distribution of the portfolios. Both the parties, have kept major portfolios have been kept away from the purview of the nominees from the Northern Karnataka.
Consider the portfolios which have been allocated to the Northern Karnataka from the region, namely Primary and Secondary Education (Mr. Basavaraj Horatti), Revenue (Mr. Jagadish Shettar), Labour and Minority Affairs (Mr. Iqbal Ansari), Agricultural Marketing (Mr. Sharanabasappa Darshnapur), Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (Mr. C M Udashi), Youth Services and Sports (Mr. Alkod Hanumanthappa), Food and Civil Supplies (Govind Karjol), Agriculture (Bandeppa Kashempur), Social Welfare (Balachandra Jarakiholi), Tourism and Textiles (Sriramulu).
The portfolios which are considered as weighty namely, the Home, Urban Development, Public Works, Energy, Large and Medium Industries, Infrastructure Development, Water Resources, Housing, Transport, Small Scale industries to name a few, have been kept out of the purview of the Northern Karnataka. The most glaring have been the manner in which the portfolio of Major Irrigation, has been allotted.
The major irrigation covers the plans for irrigation from the two of the major basins, the Krishna and Cauvery. In the case of Cauvery basin development, there is hardly anything new needs to be done. The Karnataka, has its hand and foot tied by the Cauvery Tribunal as for as the expansion of the irrigation facilities are concerned. One is only waiting for the long awaited verdict from the Tribunal, which is expected to formalise the restrictions already placed on Karnataka.
Under the circumstances, all the hopes of any major breakthrough in the harnessing of the irrigation portfolios now rest with the Krishna basin alone, which lies mainly in the Northern Karnataka region. But this portfolio, has been given to Mr. Eswarappa of the BJP, who belongs to the BJP.
Krishna dispute also stands at a crucial stage. The Karnataka, which has failed to utilize the full share of the allocation of water given under the Scheme A of the Bachawat Tribunal, faces the crucial task of saving the unutilized share of water before the Second Tribunal headed by Mr. Brajesh Mishra. And also make out a case for equitable share in the share of the surplus water, which is to be adjudicated. Karnataka needs to tread more carefully before advocating its case before the Tribunal and quicken the pace of the work on the existing ongoing projects.
It may be incidentally mentioned here, that the BJP as an opposition party for years in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Its understanding of the crucial issues pertaining to the Krishna and Cauvery, has been shockingly poor. At no stage, the party had had any clear concept of the issues involved and the interests of the states involved. The party has been cool when ever the state government had got in trouble with the NDA government in matter of clearance for the irrigation projects. How is it expected to handle the crucial sector this times remains to be seen. The new minister has already given expression to his ignorance by making some inappropriate observations on the Cauvery basin projects at Mysore.
The utmost need of the hour for the region is the infrastructural development and the PWD and Infrastructure Development have been kept away from the region.
The only saving grace has been the allocation of the portfolio of the rural development, and both portfolios pertaining to this have come to the two nominees of the Northern Karnataka namely the Udashi and Govind Karjol. But the tragedy here is that the BJP’s commitment to the concept of democratic development, has been only skin deep.
(ends) 07:01 hrs. February 20, 2006
=======================00000000000000000==================
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Hard time for new Karnataka team
If the outcome of the maiden visit of the new duo the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, Messrs Kumaraswamy and Mr. B S Yediyurappa to Newdelhi is any indication, the state government has a hard task on hand in making its voice felt in Newdelhi.
Apart from being new to the corridors of power and the art of governanance, the new government apparently lacks the communication skill. Both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister appear to be unfamiliar with English and Hindi, the twin language vehicles which are required for survival in the nation’s capital. As it is hardly any body cares for Karnataka, which is known as one of the supine states in the country, which hardly fights any case. Added to this has been the lack of the communication skills of the new team.
From all accounts and purposes, the visit was a disaster to put it mildly. The duo was hardly able to make the presentation before the Union Minister for Power Mr. Sushi Kumar Shindhe. The two member team from Karnataka, who are known to have oratorical skills in their mother tongue Kannada, were seen fumbling for words while trying to converse with the Union Minister Mr. Shindhe. To their misfortune was that the visit was widely covered by the one of the prominent electronic channels and the pitiable plight of the two member team was only seen to be believed. The entire national audience had a glimpse of how ill-equipped the two were in conducting business in Newdelhi. Their image has taken a serious beating. It will certainly take a long time to repair the beating the image has taken in the process.
It is not that none who does not know English or Hindi has been able to do business in Newdelhi. The late Kamaraj always talked in Tamil and Karunanidhi speaks only in Tamil even in Newdelhi so have been some of the representatives from other linguistic states as well. But Karunanidhi by his stature has always commanded respect and he is listened to carefully. There is an array of supporters who could do the spade work for him in Newdelhi.
Even Devegowda had his own share of problems during his less than one year stint as the Prime Minister of the United Front Government in Newdelhi. His Achilles heel was Hindi, and Mr. Gowda did show signs of learning Hindi. He had got a person appointed to give him Hindi lessons. English was no problem for him at all. .
In the case of the Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa, it was apparent that they had slipped up badly in making adequate preparations to their maiden visit. They went all alone, without any help and had not even prepared a written memorandum about the demands from Karnataka. They relied mainly on the oral presentation and one could see from the TV channel that Mr. Shindhe was finding difficult to grasp whatever the Karnataka team was trying to say. Should they not have taken one person with necessary communication skills to assist them in their errand? This was not done and the TV channel hardly missed taking note of the embarrassing movements for the Karnataka team and had lot of advice to offer as to its preparations.
Another interesting question was whatever prompted the electronic channel to take note of the maiden visit of the duo. Did somebody tip them off on the unfamiliarity of the language terrain of Mr. Kumaraswamy only to portray the new team in a bad light? It may be true or may not be true. But this cannot condone the cardinal slip of inadequate preparations made by the duo.
Tongues have started wagging over their failure to meet the BJP national leaders, as had been originally planned. Was it called off at the eleventh hour only because of the communication problem? This had happened to Mr Yediyurappa in the past, when he had been named as one of the national secretaries of the BJP but he hardly went to Newdelhi because of his lack of knowledge of Hindi and English. ‘
As a matter of fact the story going round the BJP circles is that the main reason, why the national leadership does not evince much interest in Karnataka is of the diffidence on the part of the state leaders to talk to their leaders. Barring Anant Kumar, the former Union Minister and currently the All India General Secretary, hardly anybody has top level contacts in the party. Of course, Mr. Ananth Kumar is in dog house politically as such in BJP, with the national leadership having given a virtual carte blanche to Yediyurappa to manage the show in Karnataka.
Unless Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa take adequate action to overcome their shortcomings, it is going to be very difficult for them to deal with the Central Ministers.
(Ends)12:09:33 AM February 15, 2006
====================000000000000000================
Apart from being new to the corridors of power and the art of governanance, the new government apparently lacks the communication skill. Both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister appear to be unfamiliar with English and Hindi, the twin language vehicles which are required for survival in the nation’s capital. As it is hardly any body cares for Karnataka, which is known as one of the supine states in the country, which hardly fights any case. Added to this has been the lack of the communication skills of the new team.
From all accounts and purposes, the visit was a disaster to put it mildly. The duo was hardly able to make the presentation before the Union Minister for Power Mr. Sushi Kumar Shindhe. The two member team from Karnataka, who are known to have oratorical skills in their mother tongue Kannada, were seen fumbling for words while trying to converse with the Union Minister Mr. Shindhe. To their misfortune was that the visit was widely covered by the one of the prominent electronic channels and the pitiable plight of the two member team was only seen to be believed. The entire national audience had a glimpse of how ill-equipped the two were in conducting business in Newdelhi. Their image has taken a serious beating. It will certainly take a long time to repair the beating the image has taken in the process.
It is not that none who does not know English or Hindi has been able to do business in Newdelhi. The late Kamaraj always talked in Tamil and Karunanidhi speaks only in Tamil even in Newdelhi so have been some of the representatives from other linguistic states as well. But Karunanidhi by his stature has always commanded respect and he is listened to carefully. There is an array of supporters who could do the spade work for him in Newdelhi.
Even Devegowda had his own share of problems during his less than one year stint as the Prime Minister of the United Front Government in Newdelhi. His Achilles heel was Hindi, and Mr. Gowda did show signs of learning Hindi. He had got a person appointed to give him Hindi lessons. English was no problem for him at all. .
In the case of the Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa, it was apparent that they had slipped up badly in making adequate preparations to their maiden visit. They went all alone, without any help and had not even prepared a written memorandum about the demands from Karnataka. They relied mainly on the oral presentation and one could see from the TV channel that Mr. Shindhe was finding difficult to grasp whatever the Karnataka team was trying to say. Should they not have taken one person with necessary communication skills to assist them in their errand? This was not done and the TV channel hardly missed taking note of the embarrassing movements for the Karnataka team and had lot of advice to offer as to its preparations.
Another interesting question was whatever prompted the electronic channel to take note of the maiden visit of the duo. Did somebody tip them off on the unfamiliarity of the language terrain of Mr. Kumaraswamy only to portray the new team in a bad light? It may be true or may not be true. But this cannot condone the cardinal slip of inadequate preparations made by the duo.
Tongues have started wagging over their failure to meet the BJP national leaders, as had been originally planned. Was it called off at the eleventh hour only because of the communication problem? This had happened to Mr Yediyurappa in the past, when he had been named as one of the national secretaries of the BJP but he hardly went to Newdelhi because of his lack of knowledge of Hindi and English. ‘
As a matter of fact the story going round the BJP circles is that the main reason, why the national leadership does not evince much interest in Karnataka is of the diffidence on the part of the state leaders to talk to their leaders. Barring Anant Kumar, the former Union Minister and currently the All India General Secretary, hardly anybody has top level contacts in the party. Of course, Mr. Ananth Kumar is in dog house politically as such in BJP, with the national leadership having given a virtual carte blanche to Yediyurappa to manage the show in Karnataka.
Unless Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa take adequate action to overcome their shortcomings, it is going to be very difficult for them to deal with the Central Ministers.
(Ends)12:09:33 AM February 15, 2006
====================000000000000000================
Friday, February 10, 2006
Expectations of Northern Karnataka
Expectations in Northern Karnataka
Every time a change of guard occurs in Bangalore, the one topic which is invariably discussed is whether the change in government augurs for the Northern Region getting its legitimate share in the development pie. And invariably every government ends its tenure by promising the moon to the people and letting them down badly at the end in the bargain.
This time also, the change in the stewardship has triggered off the discussions and had given to rise lot of expectations that some tangible good may happen to the region. This is based on two essential premises. Firstly the majority partner of the coalition government – the BJP draws its major sustenance from the Northern Karnataka region in general and that of Bombay Karnataka sub region in particular. It is expected to consolidate its position by taking up the programmes, which are dear to the heart of the people of the region.
And the Janata Dal (S) under Mr. Kumaraswamy appears to have realized the heavy political price it has paid for ignoring Northern Karnataka all these days and pooh-poohing its aspirations. The JDS has hardly been able to carve out any tangible base in the region, mainly because of the pronounced anti Northern Karnataka bias of the leadership in general and of Mr. Devegowda in particular. Mr. Devegowda set in motion the firefighting operations as it were on the eve of the zilla and taluk panchayat elections, by roping in as many lingayat leaders into the party as possible but this has hardly impressed the people of the region. If the JDS wants to continue as a credible political force in the state in the days to come, it has to develop political moorings in Karnataka. Unless the party woos Northern Karnataka, it can’t realize the ambition of coming to power on its own in the days to come. Nobody knows it better than Mr. Kumaraswamy, the new Chief Minister, who appears to be political pragmatists and free from the dogmas and prejudices which were the hall marks of the attitude of his illustrious father.
There is however a fly in the ointment- namely the weak leadership in the region in both the camps. As it is both the top posts in the government, have gone to the people who do not belong to the region and not expected to inspire the confidence in the bonafides of the government. And those from the two parties, who are expected to get into the government, are definitely not people with sufficient political clout. For the JDS, the top most leader is going to be Mr. Basavaraj Horatti, MLC representing teachers constituency, who despite all his involvement in the teachers movement is yet to emerge as a politician of merit and standing. For the BJP its top most candidate who may find berth is Mr. Jagadish Shettar, the present president of the state party. The opportunities, that have come to Shettar, of being the Leader of the Opposition, then the President of the unit and now as a possible minister, have brought him personal luck but he is yet to establish himself as the leader of standing, credibility and guts. He has always proved to be an understudy of Mr. Yediyurappa. And has not been able to come out of the shadow all these days.
Ultimately, if something good has to come to region, it must from the combination of Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa and not because of any calculated political clout and standing of the politicians from the region. Will the due have the energy and time to follow the Northern Karnataka agenda, remains as a million dollar question?
The problems and unkept promises of Northern Karnataka are in a legion. Typical of the unresolved dilemma has been dithering on the implementation of Nanjundappa Committee report on the removal of the regional imbalance. The Krishna government, which constituted the committee, chose to dither on it and hardly anything was done during the regime of Mr. Dharam Singh, barring the lip sympathy given.
There has been a concerted attempt to misrepresent the implications of the Nanjundappa Committee recommendations. What the Committee had recommended was an additional investment of Rs. 16,000 crores over a seven year period to bridge the gap in the development, not only in the Northern Karnataka region, but also in the entire backward tracks of the state. Per year it comes to an investment of Rs. 2000 crores spread over all the twentyseven districts,. For an economically buoyant state of Karnataka, it should not be a major problem to find this much of money. For want of necessary commitment, the governments of the day have not been able to implement the same.
Can the new government break the voodoo or end up like the predecessors offering excuses for not doing the things rather than take the bull by the horn.
(ends) 23:28 hrs. February 10, 2006
================00000000000=======
Every time a change of guard occurs in Bangalore, the one topic which is invariably discussed is whether the change in government augurs for the Northern Region getting its legitimate share in the development pie. And invariably every government ends its tenure by promising the moon to the people and letting them down badly at the end in the bargain.
This time also, the change in the stewardship has triggered off the discussions and had given to rise lot of expectations that some tangible good may happen to the region. This is based on two essential premises. Firstly the majority partner of the coalition government – the BJP draws its major sustenance from the Northern Karnataka region in general and that of Bombay Karnataka sub region in particular. It is expected to consolidate its position by taking up the programmes, which are dear to the heart of the people of the region.
And the Janata Dal (S) under Mr. Kumaraswamy appears to have realized the heavy political price it has paid for ignoring Northern Karnataka all these days and pooh-poohing its aspirations. The JDS has hardly been able to carve out any tangible base in the region, mainly because of the pronounced anti Northern Karnataka bias of the leadership in general and of Mr. Devegowda in particular. Mr. Devegowda set in motion the firefighting operations as it were on the eve of the zilla and taluk panchayat elections, by roping in as many lingayat leaders into the party as possible but this has hardly impressed the people of the region. If the JDS wants to continue as a credible political force in the state in the days to come, it has to develop political moorings in Karnataka. Unless the party woos Northern Karnataka, it can’t realize the ambition of coming to power on its own in the days to come. Nobody knows it better than Mr. Kumaraswamy, the new Chief Minister, who appears to be political pragmatists and free from the dogmas and prejudices which were the hall marks of the attitude of his illustrious father.
There is however a fly in the ointment- namely the weak leadership in the region in both the camps. As it is both the top posts in the government, have gone to the people who do not belong to the region and not expected to inspire the confidence in the bonafides of the government. And those from the two parties, who are expected to get into the government, are definitely not people with sufficient political clout. For the JDS, the top most leader is going to be Mr. Basavaraj Horatti, MLC representing teachers constituency, who despite all his involvement in the teachers movement is yet to emerge as a politician of merit and standing. For the BJP its top most candidate who may find berth is Mr. Jagadish Shettar, the present president of the state party. The opportunities, that have come to Shettar, of being the Leader of the Opposition, then the President of the unit and now as a possible minister, have brought him personal luck but he is yet to establish himself as the leader of standing, credibility and guts. He has always proved to be an understudy of Mr. Yediyurappa. And has not been able to come out of the shadow all these days.
Ultimately, if something good has to come to region, it must from the combination of Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa and not because of any calculated political clout and standing of the politicians from the region. Will the due have the energy and time to follow the Northern Karnataka agenda, remains as a million dollar question?
The problems and unkept promises of Northern Karnataka are in a legion. Typical of the unresolved dilemma has been dithering on the implementation of Nanjundappa Committee report on the removal of the regional imbalance. The Krishna government, which constituted the committee, chose to dither on it and hardly anything was done during the regime of Mr. Dharam Singh, barring the lip sympathy given.
There has been a concerted attempt to misrepresent the implications of the Nanjundappa Committee recommendations. What the Committee had recommended was an additional investment of Rs. 16,000 crores over a seven year period to bridge the gap in the development, not only in the Northern Karnataka region, but also in the entire backward tracks of the state. Per year it comes to an investment of Rs. 2000 crores spread over all the twentyseven districts,. For an economically buoyant state of Karnataka, it should not be a major problem to find this much of money. For want of necessary commitment, the governments of the day have not been able to implement the same.
Can the new government break the voodoo or end up like the predecessors offering excuses for not doing the things rather than take the bull by the horn.
(ends) 23:28 hrs. February 10, 2006
================00000000000=======
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Kudos to Kumaraswamy
Kudos to Kumaraswamy
One must hand over kudos to Kumaraswamy, the young chief minister of Karnataka, who has upstaged many veterans to occupy the coveted gaddi. His performanance in the assembly during the motion of confidence on 8th was to say simply superb for the political green horn, who has the distinction of becoming the Chief Minister during his first tenure as the member of the assembly. He was cool as a cucumber, while his Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Yediyurappa lost his cool soon. He took the criticism in his strides, made no bones about his being young and inexperienced and how he needed cooperation from all to carry on further. His reference to his father Devegowda was quite reverential. While talking about the difference in his and his fathers perception, Mr. Kumaraswamy skirted off the issue of Mr. Devegowda’s complicity in the whole happening deftly.
Mr. Kumaraswamy was candid enough to say that the alliance with Congress hardly worked. The trouble started from the day one of the allocation of portfolios and continued since then unfailingly. There was not even one joint meeting of the two legislature parties to iron out differences and perceptions between the two parties.
Secondly, he has also gone on record to say his contact with the BJP are not of recent origin but dates back to the days when the 2004 election results were announced and with the BJP leaders making overtures to them. It was the Congress attitude which was responsible for the parting of the ways rather than any overtures made by the BJP.
This should put a nail on the canard floated by the Congress against the new coalition which has assumed office.
As a matter of fact it was the Congress which was shown in poor light. Their party leaders including Mr. Dharam Singh could not till the last accept with grace that they had lost the race. This had happened on the day Mr. Dharam Singh was asked by the Governor but could not move the motion of confidence. And yesterday also, when the Congress insisted on the division, when the Speaker had put the motion to the voice vote and it was evident to everybody that the number game had turned in favor of the new combination.
While pouring out the venom on JDS for their loss of power, the Congress leaders hardly had any gratitude to express for the pivotal role played by the JDS which helped in renewing the lease for power despite the defeat in the 2004 election. As a matter of fact, the JDS went out of the way to resurrect the political fortunes of the Congress, which were in the dumps, and party, which had got the benefit of the Anti Congress votes, befriended the Congress, which had been voted out of power, which was against the reining sentiments of the electorate.
The least Congress could have done was to express its gratitude to the JDS for all the help it had given in the past and wish it well in its new innings, giving due expression to whatever reservations they had about the new alliance. This was nothing surprising, since Congressmen are known to be bad losers.
(ends) 10:22 hrs. February 9, 2006
==================00000000000000===========
One must hand over kudos to Kumaraswamy, the young chief minister of Karnataka, who has upstaged many veterans to occupy the coveted gaddi. His performanance in the assembly during the motion of confidence on 8th was to say simply superb for the political green horn, who has the distinction of becoming the Chief Minister during his first tenure as the member of the assembly. He was cool as a cucumber, while his Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Yediyurappa lost his cool soon. He took the criticism in his strides, made no bones about his being young and inexperienced and how he needed cooperation from all to carry on further. His reference to his father Devegowda was quite reverential. While talking about the difference in his and his fathers perception, Mr. Kumaraswamy skirted off the issue of Mr. Devegowda’s complicity in the whole happening deftly.
Mr. Kumaraswamy was candid enough to say that the alliance with Congress hardly worked. The trouble started from the day one of the allocation of portfolios and continued since then unfailingly. There was not even one joint meeting of the two legislature parties to iron out differences and perceptions between the two parties.
Secondly, he has also gone on record to say his contact with the BJP are not of recent origin but dates back to the days when the 2004 election results were announced and with the BJP leaders making overtures to them. It was the Congress attitude which was responsible for the parting of the ways rather than any overtures made by the BJP.
This should put a nail on the canard floated by the Congress against the new coalition which has assumed office.
As a matter of fact it was the Congress which was shown in poor light. Their party leaders including Mr. Dharam Singh could not till the last accept with grace that they had lost the race. This had happened on the day Mr. Dharam Singh was asked by the Governor but could not move the motion of confidence. And yesterday also, when the Congress insisted on the division, when the Speaker had put the motion to the voice vote and it was evident to everybody that the number game had turned in favor of the new combination.
While pouring out the venom on JDS for their loss of power, the Congress leaders hardly had any gratitude to express for the pivotal role played by the JDS which helped in renewing the lease for power despite the defeat in the 2004 election. As a matter of fact, the JDS went out of the way to resurrect the political fortunes of the Congress, which were in the dumps, and party, which had got the benefit of the Anti Congress votes, befriended the Congress, which had been voted out of power, which was against the reining sentiments of the electorate.
The least Congress could have done was to express its gratitude to the JDS for all the help it had given in the past and wish it well in its new innings, giving due expression to whatever reservations they had about the new alliance. This was nothing surprising, since Congressmen are known to be bad losers.
(ends) 10:22 hrs. February 9, 2006
==================00000000000000===========
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
panchayat raj in for bad time
Panchayat raj in for a bad time
The new JDS/BJP government does not well for the Panchayatraj system in vogue in Karnataka. At a time, when the newly elected members of the taluk and zilla panchayats are poised to open a new era of local self government thanks to the empowerment made already, the regime in Karnataka appears to be conceptually alien to the entire concept.
This was evident from the initial observations made by the Chief Minister Mr. Kumaraswamy and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. B S Yediyurappa in a TV programme anchored by the Media Academy Chairman Mr. Subbarao on Doordarshan on February 7.
From the observations made, it was evident that both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister were in the dark as for as the whole philosophy of the panchayat raj system, which is in vogue in Karnataka since more than two decades. They confined themselves to make some casual remarks mouthing the usual objections raised by the detractors of the system that the system had resulted in the decentralization of corruption, as if the corruption is a monopoly of the legislators and that the members of the local self government should keep themselves off.
This is nothing surprising. Because this has been attitude of the most of the legislators in Karnataka in the two decade old history of the movement. They have always viewed the system as something of an interloper, which has come to take away the powers and privileges enjoyed by the legislators. Comparatively the Congress had a better understanding, in the sense that the present panchayat raj enactment is a Congress creation and that it is the Congress, which has gone for bringing far reaching amendments to make the system more effective. This has been incidentally done by the Congress regime, mainly because of the commitment to the concept at the national party level than because of any new found love for the system by the run of the mill party legislators. Next to that comes the undivided Janata Dal, which was the author of the first enactment made in 1983 and subsequently introduced number of amendments. BJP has the poorest of the poor concept of the panchayat raj both at the state and the national level.
It was against this background that one noticed during the recently conducted zilla and taluk panchayat elections that the political parties studiously avoided making any references to the problems and programmes of the panchayat raj and ran the campaign as the one aimed at gaining power than the one designed to govern the panchayat raj institutions. Both the Congress and JDS chose to skirt the issue completely while the BJP made some exception by talking about the need for reforms in the system in its manifesto.
Now the JDS faction led by Kumaraswamy which has been catapulted to power, has hardly any idea of the system, the problems which are to be tackled and hurdles which require to be cleared. So has been the case with the BJP.
The unfamiliarity and the ignorance assumes importance in the context of the fact that the previous government had transferred lot of powers and finances to the panchayat raj institutions and the budget presented by Siddaramaiah, had created the panchayat head for the first time and transferred schemes and funds to the tune of Rest. 2880 crores to the panchayat sector. An activity mapping has been issued to delineate the functions of the each of the three tier system and avoid the overlapping of functions and confusion. Accordingly, more than Rs,. 100 crores have been kept at the disposal of the panchayat raj institutions in each of the district for the current year. And the performanance of the panchayat raj institutions is going to be dismal in the very first year, because of the delay in holding polls in the first instance, and because of the change in the government. No zilla and taluk panchayats have started effectively working as yet because of the delay in the election of the adhyakshas and upadhyakshas. And the financial year is coming to an end in about seven weeks time from now.
(ends) 23:38 hrs. February 7, 2006
-----------------------------------0000000000000000------------------------
.
The new JDS/BJP government does not well for the Panchayatraj system in vogue in Karnataka. At a time, when the newly elected members of the taluk and zilla panchayats are poised to open a new era of local self government thanks to the empowerment made already, the regime in Karnataka appears to be conceptually alien to the entire concept.
This was evident from the initial observations made by the Chief Minister Mr. Kumaraswamy and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. B S Yediyurappa in a TV programme anchored by the Media Academy Chairman Mr. Subbarao on Doordarshan on February 7.
From the observations made, it was evident that both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister were in the dark as for as the whole philosophy of the panchayat raj system, which is in vogue in Karnataka since more than two decades. They confined themselves to make some casual remarks mouthing the usual objections raised by the detractors of the system that the system had resulted in the decentralization of corruption, as if the corruption is a monopoly of the legislators and that the members of the local self government should keep themselves off.
This is nothing surprising. Because this has been attitude of the most of the legislators in Karnataka in the two decade old history of the movement. They have always viewed the system as something of an interloper, which has come to take away the powers and privileges enjoyed by the legislators. Comparatively the Congress had a better understanding, in the sense that the present panchayat raj enactment is a Congress creation and that it is the Congress, which has gone for bringing far reaching amendments to make the system more effective. This has been incidentally done by the Congress regime, mainly because of the commitment to the concept at the national party level than because of any new found love for the system by the run of the mill party legislators. Next to that comes the undivided Janata Dal, which was the author of the first enactment made in 1983 and subsequently introduced number of amendments. BJP has the poorest of the poor concept of the panchayat raj both at the state and the national level.
It was against this background that one noticed during the recently conducted zilla and taluk panchayat elections that the political parties studiously avoided making any references to the problems and programmes of the panchayat raj and ran the campaign as the one aimed at gaining power than the one designed to govern the panchayat raj institutions. Both the Congress and JDS chose to skirt the issue completely while the BJP made some exception by talking about the need for reforms in the system in its manifesto.
Now the JDS faction led by Kumaraswamy which has been catapulted to power, has hardly any idea of the system, the problems which are to be tackled and hurdles which require to be cleared. So has been the case with the BJP.
The unfamiliarity and the ignorance assumes importance in the context of the fact that the previous government had transferred lot of powers and finances to the panchayat raj institutions and the budget presented by Siddaramaiah, had created the panchayat head for the first time and transferred schemes and funds to the tune of Rest. 2880 crores to the panchayat sector. An activity mapping has been issued to delineate the functions of the each of the three tier system and avoid the overlapping of functions and confusion. Accordingly, more than Rs,. 100 crores have been kept at the disposal of the panchayat raj institutions in each of the district for the current year. And the performanance of the panchayat raj institutions is going to be dismal in the very first year, because of the delay in holding polls in the first instance, and because of the change in the government. No zilla and taluk panchayats have started effectively working as yet because of the delay in the election of the adhyakshas and upadhyakshas. And the financial year is coming to an end in about seven weeks time from now.
(ends) 23:38 hrs. February 7, 2006
-----------------------------------0000000000000000------------------------
.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Complicity becoming clearer
Complicity of Mr. Devegowda is becoming clear
The complicity of Mr. Devegowda in scripting the developments that led to his son occupying the coveted office of the Chief Minister is becoming more and more pronounced.
Mr. Devegowda it may be noted here has been dithering on the issue of taking disciplinary action against his son and his cohorts for violating the party principle of keeping the distance with the BJP away. But this has not prevented him from taking a public posture that he had been hurt by the “rebellion” of his son. This however does not wash well, with the antics of Mr. Devegowda becoming clearer and clearer in the national arena as well as the political circles within Karnataka.
Any president of any party, would have kept quiet and held off the disciplinary action like Mr. Devegowda has done as for as Kumaraswamy’s actions are concerned. One action from his part, of suspending Mr. Kumaraswamy or expelling him from the party, would have put spokes in the plans of the JDS/BJP government being formed in Karnataka. Technically all the JDS members who have aligned with Mr. Kumaraswamy are under Mr. Devegowda even today and are amenable to the discipline. Even as late an hour as this, Mr. Devegowda if he minds can strike back at the rebel son, by issuing a whip to the party legislators to vote against the confidence vote sought as and when by Mr. Devegowda. In all probability it would not be issued. And if issued, sufficient care would be taken to ensure that the guilty members get off the hook under one or the other pretext.
The former Chief Minister, Mr. Dharam Singh is right when he said on the last day of his office that the show put up by the Congress in the just concluded Taluk and Zilla panchayat elections had become a curse to the continuation of his government. The panchayat elections, had called the bluff of Devegowda’s party. His party had performed miserably and had paid a heavy price for the action it had taken against Mr. Siddaramaiah. It had put the Congress on top and had given a handle for the Devegowda baiters within the Congress to needle Devegowda further.
For Mr. Gowda could ill afford to go to assembly polls in the light of the miserably performanance. He would have lost badly. And this would have put paid to his desire of anointing his son as the Chief Minister. It was against this background that a political diabolical plan was worked out to destabilize the Congress led Ministry and forms another ministry with the support of the BJP. The BJP was too willing to play the ball, since that would mean the BJP opening its political account in the south, as it had done now. There is also no question of the BJP pulling down the new ministry, since the BJP wants a longer reins of power and would not do anything to upset the applecart. This would be at least for the 20 months period the first of the two phase of sharing of power arrangement worked out with the BJP.
The drama was carefully scripted giving the impression that it was done without the knowledge of and against the wishes of Mr. Devegowda. But as it is, it is often said that even the clever criminals for the care they have taken do leave some of the clues. And in this political drama, Mr. Devegowda had left clear clues which eloquently bear testimony to the plans of Mr. Devegowda to make his son a Chief Minister. This was now or never opportunity for Mr. Devegowda to realize the dream. And Gowda took the calculated gamble and succeeded. He should never better stop his protestations of innocence and come and publicly acknowledge the political fete achieved. But knowing the nature of Mr. Devegowda, he would not do it.
(ends) 19:05 hrs. February 6, 2006 =================000000000000000=========
. .
The complicity of Mr. Devegowda in scripting the developments that led to his son occupying the coveted office of the Chief Minister is becoming more and more pronounced.
Mr. Devegowda it may be noted here has been dithering on the issue of taking disciplinary action against his son and his cohorts for violating the party principle of keeping the distance with the BJP away. But this has not prevented him from taking a public posture that he had been hurt by the “rebellion” of his son. This however does not wash well, with the antics of Mr. Devegowda becoming clearer and clearer in the national arena as well as the political circles within Karnataka.
Any president of any party, would have kept quiet and held off the disciplinary action like Mr. Devegowda has done as for as Kumaraswamy’s actions are concerned. One action from his part, of suspending Mr. Kumaraswamy or expelling him from the party, would have put spokes in the plans of the JDS/BJP government being formed in Karnataka. Technically all the JDS members who have aligned with Mr. Kumaraswamy are under Mr. Devegowda even today and are amenable to the discipline. Even as late an hour as this, Mr. Devegowda if he minds can strike back at the rebel son, by issuing a whip to the party legislators to vote against the confidence vote sought as and when by Mr. Devegowda. In all probability it would not be issued. And if issued, sufficient care would be taken to ensure that the guilty members get off the hook under one or the other pretext.
The former Chief Minister, Mr. Dharam Singh is right when he said on the last day of his office that the show put up by the Congress in the just concluded Taluk and Zilla panchayat elections had become a curse to the continuation of his government. The panchayat elections, had called the bluff of Devegowda’s party. His party had performed miserably and had paid a heavy price for the action it had taken against Mr. Siddaramaiah. It had put the Congress on top and had given a handle for the Devegowda baiters within the Congress to needle Devegowda further.
For Mr. Gowda could ill afford to go to assembly polls in the light of the miserably performanance. He would have lost badly. And this would have put paid to his desire of anointing his son as the Chief Minister. It was against this background that a political diabolical plan was worked out to destabilize the Congress led Ministry and forms another ministry with the support of the BJP. The BJP was too willing to play the ball, since that would mean the BJP opening its political account in the south, as it had done now. There is also no question of the BJP pulling down the new ministry, since the BJP wants a longer reins of power and would not do anything to upset the applecart. This would be at least for the 20 months period the first of the two phase of sharing of power arrangement worked out with the BJP.
The drama was carefully scripted giving the impression that it was done without the knowledge of and against the wishes of Mr. Devegowda. But as it is, it is often said that even the clever criminals for the care they have taken do leave some of the clues. And in this political drama, Mr. Devegowda had left clear clues which eloquently bear testimony to the plans of Mr. Devegowda to make his son a Chief Minister. This was now or never opportunity for Mr. Devegowda to realize the dream. And Gowda took the calculated gamble and succeeded. He should never better stop his protestations of innocence and come and publicly acknowledge the political fete achieved. But knowing the nature of Mr. Devegowda, he would not do it.
(ends) 19:05 hrs. February 6, 2006 =================000000000000000=========
. .
Friday, February 03, 2006
Reflection of anti Congress sentiments
Reflection of the anti Congress mood in Karnataka.
HUBLI, 3 February 2006 The assumption of office today by the two member JDS/BJP
Ministry in Karnataka, is no tribute to the growing clout of the two Congress parties, but a reiteration of the present anti Congress sentiments among the people. As a matter today’s development has undone the aberration of Congress/JDS coalition government, which was a hybrid political phenomenon of a Congress and anti Congress forces coming together to rule the state ignoring the sentiments of the people.
This is not the first time that the anti Congress government has assumed office in Karnataka. The first anti Congress government headed by Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde of Janata Dal which was supported by the BJP assumed office in 1983 and Janata Dal ruled on its own stream when it went to the people to seek fresh mandate in 1985 and held office four years, before the Devegowda led rebellion resulted in the dismissal of the government in 1989. In 1994, the Janata Dal again came back to power and held power for the full term, with Mr. Devegowda and Mr. J H Patel acting as the Chief Ministers only to lose power in 1999.
And the BJP had also been a major beneficiary of the anti Congress mood, and had emerged as the number two party in the parliament elections at all which was also reflected later on the 1999 and 2004 assembly elections.
The victory of the non Congress parties, cannot be attributed to the individual parties taking the roots in the people. They have been the main beneficiaries of the anti Congress mood. The JD won in 1983, 1994 and 1999 assembly elections since it was considered the credible anti Congress front. In 2004, the anti Congress votes were divided region wise. The electorate in Northern Karnataka area preferred the BJP as the anti Congress front and extended their patronage to them. The JDS could put up a better show in the southern region, mainly because of the weakness of the BJP. The electorate in the southern region perceived the JDS to be a better Congress alternative than BJP and voted for it. It is because of this that the JDS put up a better show by proxy as it were, which came as a surprise to Mr. Devegowda himself.
The Karnataka’s electoral history has been marked by a strange phenomenon of the Congress emerging victorious only when the anti Congress votes get divided. And the Congress has faced the electoral disaster whenever the anti Congress votes consolidated.
In the 2004 assembly elections, the Congress polled only 35% of the polled votes (88.61 lakhs), while the two thirds of the votes remained anti Congress in character and spirit, with BJP garnering 28.33% of the valid votes (71.18 lakhs) and the JDS accounting for 20.77% (52.22 lakh votes). The anti Congress mood prevailed because of the reduction in the division of the anti Congress votes with the JDU facing totally elimination and the new votes expressing themselves clearly in favour of the anti Congress parties. It is erroneous to believe that the Congress had suffered heavy erosion in the election. The Congress had polled 90.77 lakh votes when it won 134 seats to come to power under Mr. Krishna in 1999. Five years later, its voting tally had suffered marginal erosion to the extent of around two lakhs only. But the consolidation of the anti Congress votes as explained about resulting in Congress tally of seats taking a heavy beating.
(ends)==============00====================
HUBLI, 3 February 2006 The assumption of office today by the two member JDS/BJP
Ministry in Karnataka, is no tribute to the growing clout of the two Congress parties, but a reiteration of the present anti Congress sentiments among the people. As a matter today’s development has undone the aberration of Congress/JDS coalition government, which was a hybrid political phenomenon of a Congress and anti Congress forces coming together to rule the state ignoring the sentiments of the people.
This is not the first time that the anti Congress government has assumed office in Karnataka. The first anti Congress government headed by Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde of Janata Dal which was supported by the BJP assumed office in 1983 and Janata Dal ruled on its own stream when it went to the people to seek fresh mandate in 1985 and held office four years, before the Devegowda led rebellion resulted in the dismissal of the government in 1989. In 1994, the Janata Dal again came back to power and held power for the full term, with Mr. Devegowda and Mr. J H Patel acting as the Chief Ministers only to lose power in 1999.
And the BJP had also been a major beneficiary of the anti Congress mood, and had emerged as the number two party in the parliament elections at all which was also reflected later on the 1999 and 2004 assembly elections.
The victory of the non Congress parties, cannot be attributed to the individual parties taking the roots in the people. They have been the main beneficiaries of the anti Congress mood. The JD won in 1983, 1994 and 1999 assembly elections since it was considered the credible anti Congress front. In 2004, the anti Congress votes were divided region wise. The electorate in Northern Karnataka area preferred the BJP as the anti Congress front and extended their patronage to them. The JDS could put up a better show in the southern region, mainly because of the weakness of the BJP. The electorate in the southern region perceived the JDS to be a better Congress alternative than BJP and voted for it. It is because of this that the JDS put up a better show by proxy as it were, which came as a surprise to Mr. Devegowda himself.
The Karnataka’s electoral history has been marked by a strange phenomenon of the Congress emerging victorious only when the anti Congress votes get divided. And the Congress has faced the electoral disaster whenever the anti Congress votes consolidated.
In the 2004 assembly elections, the Congress polled only 35% of the polled votes (88.61 lakhs), while the two thirds of the votes remained anti Congress in character and spirit, with BJP garnering 28.33% of the valid votes (71.18 lakhs) and the JDS accounting for 20.77% (52.22 lakh votes). The anti Congress mood prevailed because of the reduction in the division of the anti Congress votes with the JDU facing totally elimination and the new votes expressing themselves clearly in favour of the anti Congress parties. It is erroneous to believe that the Congress had suffered heavy erosion in the election. The Congress had polled 90.77 lakh votes when it won 134 seats to come to power under Mr. Krishna in 1999. Five years later, its voting tally had suffered marginal erosion to the extent of around two lakhs only. But the consolidation of the anti Congress votes as explained about resulting in Congress tally of seats taking a heavy beating.
(ends)==============00====================
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Penchant for theatricals
Devegowda’s penchant for theatricals
HUBLI, Feb 01, 2006
Another facet of Devegowda’s persona now on display is his penchant for theatricals.
It is clear even to naiveté that Devegowda carefully scripted the plot to pave way for downfall of the Dharam Singh government and for setting the stage for his son Kumaraswamy wearing the mantle of the Chief Ministership.
But what went wrong in the whole drama was that it failed to disguise the real intentions. Nobody has taken Devegowda’s tantrums of his being shocked by the perfidy of the partymen joining hands with the BJP.
His oftrepeated protestations of standing in favour of the secular credentials might have mislead the Congress leaders and Mr. Dharam Singh, who were all along led on the garden path only to be ditched at a point of no return. But the careful watchers of the political drama have taken the bait and have not failed to discern the straws in the wind that pointed to the collusion of the indulgent father.
As a result while his son is getting ready to take over as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Devegowda’s national image and his secular credentials have taken a serious beating. And this is what is worrying Mr. Devegowda to the core now.
Even at this eleventh hour also, Mr. Devegowda is not sitting quiet and is burning the midnight oil to salvage his reputation. A planted story has been in circulation that he wants to take disciplinary action against those who are going with Mr. Kumaraswamy his son to form the ministry. Mr. Kumaraswamy like a true son of a crafty father, has also been mouthing similar sentiments, and giving expression of his dilemma of becoming the Chief Minister while his father continues to sulk. He also talks about the dent in the image of Mr. Devegowda at the national level.
Nobody is prepared to believe the story again. For, had Mr. Gouda been such a disciplinarian, he would have used the instrument at the first sign of rebellion. Kumaraswamy has conceded that he had always favored the alliance with the BJP since the 2004 elections. Devegowda had opportunities to discipline the his flock many times when they were having powwow with the BJP leaders; later when they crowd gave a letter to the Governor or when they assembled in the assembly to debate the confidence motion.
As a seasoned parliamentarian, Gouda ought to have written to the Speaker not to take Kumaraswamy’s version seriously. But he chose to write instead to the Governor, who has nothing to do with it. The crossing over of the president, Mr. Thippanna to the Kumaraswamy’s side is not a coincidence but a deliberate plan on the part of Mr. Devegowda to give legitimacy to whatever action taken by Mr. Kumaraswamy.
Holding out a threat of disciplinary action at this stage hardly cuts any ice. It is open for the members to join the JDU, if it comes to that to escape the legal consequences of their change of heart. Nothing is going to happen to Mr. Kumaraswamy. He is all set to begin his reign as the Chief Minister. On paper Mr. Gowda would like to go down as the one who tried till last to prevent the JDSBJP ministry being formed. It may satisfy his conscience. But cannot fool the people, who have now begun to see Mr. Gowda in his real political colours.
=========000===========23:48 hrs. 1-Feb-06
HUBLI, Feb 01, 2006
Another facet of Devegowda’s persona now on display is his penchant for theatricals.
It is clear even to naiveté that Devegowda carefully scripted the plot to pave way for downfall of the Dharam Singh government and for setting the stage for his son Kumaraswamy wearing the mantle of the Chief Ministership.
But what went wrong in the whole drama was that it failed to disguise the real intentions. Nobody has taken Devegowda’s tantrums of his being shocked by the perfidy of the partymen joining hands with the BJP.
His oftrepeated protestations of standing in favour of the secular credentials might have mislead the Congress leaders and Mr. Dharam Singh, who were all along led on the garden path only to be ditched at a point of no return. But the careful watchers of the political drama have taken the bait and have not failed to discern the straws in the wind that pointed to the collusion of the indulgent father.
As a result while his son is getting ready to take over as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Devegowda’s national image and his secular credentials have taken a serious beating. And this is what is worrying Mr. Devegowda to the core now.
Even at this eleventh hour also, Mr. Devegowda is not sitting quiet and is burning the midnight oil to salvage his reputation. A planted story has been in circulation that he wants to take disciplinary action against those who are going with Mr. Kumaraswamy his son to form the ministry. Mr. Kumaraswamy like a true son of a crafty father, has also been mouthing similar sentiments, and giving expression of his dilemma of becoming the Chief Minister while his father continues to sulk. He also talks about the dent in the image of Mr. Devegowda at the national level.
Nobody is prepared to believe the story again. For, had Mr. Gouda been such a disciplinarian, he would have used the instrument at the first sign of rebellion. Kumaraswamy has conceded that he had always favored the alliance with the BJP since the 2004 elections. Devegowda had opportunities to discipline the his flock many times when they were having powwow with the BJP leaders; later when they crowd gave a letter to the Governor or when they assembled in the assembly to debate the confidence motion.
As a seasoned parliamentarian, Gouda ought to have written to the Speaker not to take Kumaraswamy’s version seriously. But he chose to write instead to the Governor, who has nothing to do with it. The crossing over of the president, Mr. Thippanna to the Kumaraswamy’s side is not a coincidence but a deliberate plan on the part of Mr. Devegowda to give legitimacy to whatever action taken by Mr. Kumaraswamy.
Holding out a threat of disciplinary action at this stage hardly cuts any ice. It is open for the members to join the JDU, if it comes to that to escape the legal consequences of their change of heart. Nothing is going to happen to Mr. Kumaraswamy. He is all set to begin his reign as the Chief Minister. On paper Mr. Gowda would like to go down as the one who tried till last to prevent the JDSBJP ministry being formed. It may satisfy his conscience. But cannot fool the people, who have now begun to see Mr. Gowda in his real political colours.
=========000===========23:48 hrs. 1-Feb-06
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Increasing political promiscuity in Karnataka
HUBLI, Jan 29,2006
A disconcerting feature of the present day Karnataka politics has been the increasing political promiscuity among the political workers and politics. The isms have taken a back seat and have been replaced by sheer political opportunism and crass aggrandizement for power.
None of the three major political parties in Karnataka is an exception. As a matter of fact, all of them have been found to practice the same with aplomb and without any pinch of remorse. Congress started the ball game by choosing to align with its bitter critic JDS only to retain the power. For the JD the opportunity suited well. The façade they provided for the arrangement – of containing the communal forces hardly fooled anybody.
The BJP was not to be left out in the game. Its leader Mr. B S Yediyurappa, had shown a tendency to break out from the political party to align with the JDS in the past to form the government, which of course did not materialize. Now it has chosen to join with the JDS, a party which has been denouncing it day in and day out in quite strong terms to come to power in Karnataka. Mr. Devegowda a self-styled votary secularist has no compunctions in pocketing the protestations about upholding secularism principles just to bless the unprincipled alliance – which has resulted in his realizing the dream of making his son as a Chief Minister.
More of this tendency was evidenced in the manner in which the Kumaraswamy led JDS and the BJP tried to protect their flock from being poached by other parties. It looked as if the legislators are a chattel, available for sale and the owners taking steps to keep the flock together and resisting any efforts to entice them.
The propriety of the action on the part of the JDS and BJP in protecting their flock and taking them on a tourist binge has come in for sharp comments by the Deccan Herald columnist, Mr. Krishna Prasad, one of the serious and studious journalists of Karnataka. Mr. TJS George the journalist and the editorial consultant of Indian Express has given a brief idea of the money had gone by in providing the shield to the legislators. It is a really a huge some of money.
Obviously somebody has chosen to spend it to achieve his or her own political or personal ends. Who that could be? It would be interesting to probe into the matter. The results would be as revealing as the probe on the “cash for questions scam” noticed in the parliament. But no political party is prepared for a probe. Because their own fat will be on fire. And the tendency goes unchecked. Can anybody bell the cat? This is a question, which begs an answer.
===========ends=============== 23:21 hrs. January 29, 2006.
HUBLI, Jan 29,2006
A disconcerting feature of the present day Karnataka politics has been the increasing political promiscuity among the political workers and politics. The isms have taken a back seat and have been replaced by sheer political opportunism and crass aggrandizement for power.
None of the three major political parties in Karnataka is an exception. As a matter of fact, all of them have been found to practice the same with aplomb and without any pinch of remorse. Congress started the ball game by choosing to align with its bitter critic JDS only to retain the power. For the JD the opportunity suited well. The façade they provided for the arrangement – of containing the communal forces hardly fooled anybody.
The BJP was not to be left out in the game. Its leader Mr. B S Yediyurappa, had shown a tendency to break out from the political party to align with the JDS in the past to form the government, which of course did not materialize. Now it has chosen to join with the JDS, a party which has been denouncing it day in and day out in quite strong terms to come to power in Karnataka. Mr. Devegowda a self-styled votary secularist has no compunctions in pocketing the protestations about upholding secularism principles just to bless the unprincipled alliance – which has resulted in his realizing the dream of making his son as a Chief Minister.
More of this tendency was evidenced in the manner in which the Kumaraswamy led JDS and the BJP tried to protect their flock from being poached by other parties. It looked as if the legislators are a chattel, available for sale and the owners taking steps to keep the flock together and resisting any efforts to entice them.
The propriety of the action on the part of the JDS and BJP in protecting their flock and taking them on a tourist binge has come in for sharp comments by the Deccan Herald columnist, Mr. Krishna Prasad, one of the serious and studious journalists of Karnataka. Mr. TJS George the journalist and the editorial consultant of Indian Express has given a brief idea of the money had gone by in providing the shield to the legislators. It is a really a huge some of money.
Obviously somebody has chosen to spend it to achieve his or her own political or personal ends. Who that could be? It would be interesting to probe into the matter. The results would be as revealing as the probe on the “cash for questions scam” noticed in the parliament. But no political party is prepared for a probe. Because their own fat will be on fire. And the tendency goes unchecked. Can anybody bell the cat? This is a question, which begs an answer.
===========ends=============== 23:21 hrs. January 29, 2006.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Aberration ends
An aberration ends
HUBLI, Jan 28
The exit of the Dharam Singh led coalition government brings to an end a political aberration, thrust down the throat of the people of Karnataka by the power hungry politicians.
When the Karnataka electorate returned fractured verdict in the 2004 election, the message was clear. The people had voted out Congress totally and it had no mandate to rule. With none getting the virtual majority on their own, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with the Congress and the JDS occupying the second and third position.
Looking to the clear and unambiguous message of the people, the need of the hour was the formation of a Non Congress government of the BJP and the JDS. But the Congress sought to come back to the power through the back door with the help of the JDS.
More surprising was the willingness on the part of the JDS to put the Congress government in power despite the mood of the people. The JDS had not won the seats on its own. The electorate in the southern Karnataka area perceived the JDS as a credible anti Congress front, since the BJP was weak and voted for the JDS. After securing the Anti Congress votes, the JDS had no compunctions in befriending the Congress to share the power. Both the Congress and the JDS sought to camouflage their intentions by claiming to keep the communal forces at bay. Kumaraswamy had expressed his willingness to have alliance with the BJP then itself. It had been torpedoed by Devegowda.
This was an unreal coalition, which was plagued by too many contradictions and started tottering from the day one. They worked in an atmosphere of mutual distrust. What made the matters worse was that there was hardly any cohesion between the two. In most of the districts especially in the southern part of the state, the Congress and the JDS had fought a bitter elections and the antipathy continued to be strong. . It had been a beneficiary of the anti Congress sentiments. In the month of December, the two coalition parties fought a no hold barred election to the taluk and zilla panchayats. They were totally confused about who should share the credit or discredit for the performanance and lack of it of the government. The JDS much to his chagrin received a drubbing of lifetime, at the hustings, and Mr. Devegowda had to pay a heavy price for edging out Mr. Siddaramaiah.
The two parties had been placed in a dilemma of managing the institutions where no party had got the majority and where in some cases the Congress was required to befriend with the Siddaramaiah faction. This had infuriated Gowda. Gowda had given a notice that the coalition would be off if Congress were to go with Siddaramaiah in the panchayat raj institutions.
The new coalition, which would assume office on 3rd February, is free from the scourge of internal contradictions. At the ground level their bastions are different. The BJP is strong in Northern Karnataka and the JDS in the southern region. Their common enemy is the Congress in both cases. It is expected to be more durable that the one, which had gone out of office for the simple reason, is that the BJP, which has just come to power, is not expected to pull the rug. It would like to be in the office as long as possible.
The trouble may come after twenty months when the time comes for the JDS to hand over the reins of leadership to the BJP. JDS is expected to kick up some row to wriggle out of the understanding. Nono problem is expected to come within the first twenty months.
The only other feature of the new ministry would be that it would be a totally a new. All those from both sides, who have held office even once, are expected to come together to form the government. Will this be a boon or curse, remains to be seen.
(ends) 28.01.06
HUBLI, Jan 28
The exit of the Dharam Singh led coalition government brings to an end a political aberration, thrust down the throat of the people of Karnataka by the power hungry politicians.
When the Karnataka electorate returned fractured verdict in the 2004 election, the message was clear. The people had voted out Congress totally and it had no mandate to rule. With none getting the virtual majority on their own, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with the Congress and the JDS occupying the second and third position.
Looking to the clear and unambiguous message of the people, the need of the hour was the formation of a Non Congress government of the BJP and the JDS. But the Congress sought to come back to the power through the back door with the help of the JDS.
More surprising was the willingness on the part of the JDS to put the Congress government in power despite the mood of the people. The JDS had not won the seats on its own. The electorate in the southern Karnataka area perceived the JDS as a credible anti Congress front, since the BJP was weak and voted for the JDS. After securing the Anti Congress votes, the JDS had no compunctions in befriending the Congress to share the power. Both the Congress and the JDS sought to camouflage their intentions by claiming to keep the communal forces at bay. Kumaraswamy had expressed his willingness to have alliance with the BJP then itself. It had been torpedoed by Devegowda.
This was an unreal coalition, which was plagued by too many contradictions and started tottering from the day one. They worked in an atmosphere of mutual distrust. What made the matters worse was that there was hardly any cohesion between the two. In most of the districts especially in the southern part of the state, the Congress and the JDS had fought a bitter elections and the antipathy continued to be strong. . It had been a beneficiary of the anti Congress sentiments. In the month of December, the two coalition parties fought a no hold barred election to the taluk and zilla panchayats. They were totally confused about who should share the credit or discredit for the performanance and lack of it of the government. The JDS much to his chagrin received a drubbing of lifetime, at the hustings, and Mr. Devegowda had to pay a heavy price for edging out Mr. Siddaramaiah.
The two parties had been placed in a dilemma of managing the institutions where no party had got the majority and where in some cases the Congress was required to befriend with the Siddaramaiah faction. This had infuriated Gowda. Gowda had given a notice that the coalition would be off if Congress were to go with Siddaramaiah in the panchayat raj institutions.
The new coalition, which would assume office on 3rd February, is free from the scourge of internal contradictions. At the ground level their bastions are different. The BJP is strong in Northern Karnataka and the JDS in the southern region. Their common enemy is the Congress in both cases. It is expected to be more durable that the one, which had gone out of office for the simple reason, is that the BJP, which has just come to power, is not expected to pull the rug. It would like to be in the office as long as possible.
The trouble may come after twenty months when the time comes for the JDS to hand over the reins of leadership to the BJP. JDS is expected to kick up some row to wriggle out of the understanding. Nono problem is expected to come within the first twenty months.
The only other feature of the new ministry would be that it would be a totally a new. All those from both sides, who have held office even once, are expected to come together to form the government. Will this be a boon or curse, remains to be seen.
(ends) 28.01.06
Friday, January 27, 2006
Congress a bad loser
Congress is a bad loser
HUBLI, January 27, 2006
The Congress is a bad loser. This is the one inescapable conclusion which comes to mind after witnessing the charade of farce of a session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in Bangalore today.
The session had been convened specially to enable the Chief Minister Mr. Dharam Singh to seek the vote of confidence as per the direction of the Governor. But still the Congress avoided moving the motion under one or the other pretext.
By afternoon, it was known that efforts made or entices offered to Janata Dal to continue with the present coalition had failed. That Mr. Devegowda was behind the move made by his son was also evident from the failure of the party to issue a whip to the members on the confidence motion, while Kumaraswamy had come out with a whip to the members to vote against the confidence motion. Mr. Devegowda had in a letter to Antony suggested that Mr. Dharam Singh be better quit.
The fate of the present coalition had been sealed the moment the Speaker announced the recognition of Mr. Kumaraswamy as the Leader of the JDS group. It is known that the Speaker is a JDS nominee and that he would not have done without the knowledge and concurrence of the party supreme Mr. Devegowda.
The propriety of the Speakers action apart, the things should have been clear to the Congress, which had mounted the fire fighting operations at the eleventh hour that the game had been lost. Mr. Dharam Singh ought to have met the Governor and submitted the resignation and honourably quit. It is not clear whatever Mr. Dharam Singh wants to achieve by buying the time and postponing the inevitable. Even if the Congress is prepared to sacrifice Mr. Dharam Singh and offer the Chief Minister’s post, Mr. Kumaraswamy or Mr. Devegowda is not in a position to accept. The mutual suspicion, the antipathy has become so pronounced that there is hardly any meeting of the mind.
But that did not happen. Dharam Singh persisted, questioned the ruling of the Speaker and complained about him to the Speaker, which is something unprecedented for any leader of the house to do. And the delaying tactics were evident from the word go. Perhaps, those souls whose death had been condoled by the assembly must have squirmed in their graves for the concern oozing out of the members.
Another trouble with the Congress is that it is still not prepared to take cognisnace of the fact that the coalition era has begun and that its hegemony is over. The Congress can ill afford to behave as a big brother and expect the coalition parties to kowtow the party. It must learn to live with reality and work with the partner. Should change its mental framework. This is also a lesson for the Congress at the Centre, where it often forgets that it is running a coalition government.
(ends) 27.01.06
HUBLI, January 27, 2006
The Congress is a bad loser. This is the one inescapable conclusion which comes to mind after witnessing the charade of farce of a session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in Bangalore today.
The session had been convened specially to enable the Chief Minister Mr. Dharam Singh to seek the vote of confidence as per the direction of the Governor. But still the Congress avoided moving the motion under one or the other pretext.
By afternoon, it was known that efforts made or entices offered to Janata Dal to continue with the present coalition had failed. That Mr. Devegowda was behind the move made by his son was also evident from the failure of the party to issue a whip to the members on the confidence motion, while Kumaraswamy had come out with a whip to the members to vote against the confidence motion. Mr. Devegowda had in a letter to Antony suggested that Mr. Dharam Singh be better quit.
The fate of the present coalition had been sealed the moment the Speaker announced the recognition of Mr. Kumaraswamy as the Leader of the JDS group. It is known that the Speaker is a JDS nominee and that he would not have done without the knowledge and concurrence of the party supreme Mr. Devegowda.
The propriety of the Speakers action apart, the things should have been clear to the Congress, which had mounted the fire fighting operations at the eleventh hour that the game had been lost. Mr. Dharam Singh ought to have met the Governor and submitted the resignation and honourably quit. It is not clear whatever Mr. Dharam Singh wants to achieve by buying the time and postponing the inevitable. Even if the Congress is prepared to sacrifice Mr. Dharam Singh and offer the Chief Minister’s post, Mr. Kumaraswamy or Mr. Devegowda is not in a position to accept. The mutual suspicion, the antipathy has become so pronounced that there is hardly any meeting of the mind.
But that did not happen. Dharam Singh persisted, questioned the ruling of the Speaker and complained about him to the Speaker, which is something unprecedented for any leader of the house to do. And the delaying tactics were evident from the word go. Perhaps, those souls whose death had been condoled by the assembly must have squirmed in their graves for the concern oozing out of the members.
Another trouble with the Congress is that it is still not prepared to take cognisnace of the fact that the coalition era has begun and that its hegemony is over. The Congress can ill afford to behave as a big brother and expect the coalition parties to kowtow the party. It must learn to live with reality and work with the partner. Should change its mental framework. This is also a lesson for the Congress at the Centre, where it often forgets that it is running a coalition government.
(ends) 27.01.06
something more on Mr Devegowda
Something more on Mr Devegowda.
HUBLI, 26th Jan 2006
Mr Devegowda has been one politician in Karnataka, who has been thoroughly underestimated. While Karnataka politicians like Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde, Mr. S R Bommai who were his onetime colleagues, had had to pay the price for underestimating the capacity of Mr. Devegowda, it has been the turn of the national leadership of Congress to experience the same now to their chagrin. By one stroke of pen, he has the made the mighty Congress come on bent knees with no avail. Perhaps it is a sweet revenge for him, who had lost the Prime Ministership mainly because Congress ditched him.
Unlike others, Mr. Devegowda is a 24x7 politician. He has no other passion other than politics. He lives and breathes politics all the time. He is busy plotting the moves to ensure the downfall of his adversaries. His elephantine memory makes him remember vividly even the slightest of the humiliation done to him by others. He makes it a point to repay the same in good measure at the opportune time.
The nation they say, has neither permanent friends, nor foes but permanent interests. This can be adapted in the case of Mr. Devegowda also. He has no permanent friends or enemies in politics but only permanent interest of garnering power for himself or the family.
He is good at sporting a poker face. It is very difficult to read his mind. And he hardly means whatever he says. If you take him on the face value, the mistake is yours and not his. He has a habit of talking in riddles, and in the speeches and press conferences also, he would abruptly change the subject, leaving something half said.
His long political innings is replete with occasions, where he has backstabbed his own colleagues and supporters. When he tried to backstab Congress by raking up some cases against the then Party President, Sitaram Kesari, that the latter hit back by withdrawing the support to the UDF government.
His another interesting trait has been that he is pitable when out of power and insufferable when in power. For the sake of power, he can befriend anybody and also throw out anybody once the political utility is over.
In the instant case, he befriended his betenoire Congress in Karnataka to form the coalition government despite the humiliation the latter had heaped on him in 1997. The combination was against the mandate of the people. Having got the benefit of the anti Congress vote, Mr. Devegowda had no compunction in joining the Congress for the sake of power.
This was for the single point purpose of staging political comeback in Karnataka politics. And that he has achieved it by securing the Chief Ministership for his son Mr Kumaraswamy. All the while he has taken care to see hide his real intentions. The emotional drama that he has played over the “rebellion” of his son might have fooled the uninitiated but not the old political hands, who had been studying him. It was an act of brinkmanship. For the public consumption, he appears to be a champion of secularism, who disapproved the action of his son in befriending BJP and for reaffirming his commitment to secularism. But in practice, he has blessed the political adventurism of his, praised him for “saving the party” and achieved the objective of making his son as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. One may also note that the party declined to take any disciplinary action against his son while Siddaramaiah has handled roughly. And the party did not also issue a whip on voting on the confidence. He had scripted the political drama of the ascension of the power carefully. That is Mr. Devegowda. For heavens sake don’t underestimate him..
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HUBLI, 26th Jan 2006
Mr Devegowda has been one politician in Karnataka, who has been thoroughly underestimated. While Karnataka politicians like Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde, Mr. S R Bommai who were his onetime colleagues, had had to pay the price for underestimating the capacity of Mr. Devegowda, it has been the turn of the national leadership of Congress to experience the same now to their chagrin. By one stroke of pen, he has the made the mighty Congress come on bent knees with no avail. Perhaps it is a sweet revenge for him, who had lost the Prime Ministership mainly because Congress ditched him.
Unlike others, Mr. Devegowda is a 24x7 politician. He has no other passion other than politics. He lives and breathes politics all the time. He is busy plotting the moves to ensure the downfall of his adversaries. His elephantine memory makes him remember vividly even the slightest of the humiliation done to him by others. He makes it a point to repay the same in good measure at the opportune time.
The nation they say, has neither permanent friends, nor foes but permanent interests. This can be adapted in the case of Mr. Devegowda also. He has no permanent friends or enemies in politics but only permanent interest of garnering power for himself or the family.
He is good at sporting a poker face. It is very difficult to read his mind. And he hardly means whatever he says. If you take him on the face value, the mistake is yours and not his. He has a habit of talking in riddles, and in the speeches and press conferences also, he would abruptly change the subject, leaving something half said.
His long political innings is replete with occasions, where he has backstabbed his own colleagues and supporters. When he tried to backstab Congress by raking up some cases against the then Party President, Sitaram Kesari, that the latter hit back by withdrawing the support to the UDF government.
His another interesting trait has been that he is pitable when out of power and insufferable when in power. For the sake of power, he can befriend anybody and also throw out anybody once the political utility is over.
In the instant case, he befriended his betenoire Congress in Karnataka to form the coalition government despite the humiliation the latter had heaped on him in 1997. The combination was against the mandate of the people. Having got the benefit of the anti Congress vote, Mr. Devegowda had no compunction in joining the Congress for the sake of power.
This was for the single point purpose of staging political comeback in Karnataka politics. And that he has achieved it by securing the Chief Ministership for his son Mr Kumaraswamy. All the while he has taken care to see hide his real intentions. The emotional drama that he has played over the “rebellion” of his son might have fooled the uninitiated but not the old political hands, who had been studying him. It was an act of brinkmanship. For the public consumption, he appears to be a champion of secularism, who disapproved the action of his son in befriending BJP and for reaffirming his commitment to secularism. But in practice, he has blessed the political adventurism of his, praised him for “saving the party” and achieved the objective of making his son as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. One may also note that the party declined to take any disciplinary action against his son while Siddaramaiah has handled roughly. And the party did not also issue a whip on voting on the confidence. He had scripted the political drama of the ascension of the power carefully. That is Mr. Devegowda. For heavens sake don’t underestimate him..
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
HUBLI, Jan 26,2006
Panchayat raj institutions have been caught in vortex of political polemics in Karnataka.
In the hype created over the imminent fall of the Congress JDS government in Karnataka, and new combination of the JDS led by Kumaraswamy the son of Devegowda taking over with the support of the BJP, the poor panchayat raj institutions find themselves totally neglected.
The political cataclysmic changes have been product of the hung verdict given by the electorate in the elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats in Karnataka held in December. But all attention in Karnataka is on when the new combination would assume office in Karnataka rather than how exactly the newly elected members of the taluk and zilla panchayats begin their reign.
To be true, none of the three main line political parties in Karnataka were eager to have panchayat elections. They had tried their best to postpone them. But their efforts were thwarted by the intervention of the Supreme Court. Under the circumstances all were very reluctant players in the elections. Though they had some premonition about the effect of the panchayat verdict on the political scene, none of them even in their wildest dreams had bargained for the wholesale change of political equations in Karnataka. The developments may bring far-reaching changes in the political scenario of Karnataka but have certainly not augured well for the panchayat raj institutions, which are eagerly waiting to begin their five-year reign.
The panchayat elections held in December, it may be noted here mark an important phase in the history of the panchayat raj movement in Karnataka. For the first time the State Government had empowered them both functionally and financially to the extent that an amount of more than Rs. 100 crores on an average is kept for the first time at the disposal of the panchayat raj institutions in each of the 27 districts in Karnataka. Two thirds of the amount would come to the newly elected bodies, the taluk and zilla panchayats and their area of operation are clearly demarcated and funds come to them directly. This is for the first time that these institutions have been given the kind of right and responsibility and financial wherewithal to manage their institutions.
But the problem is that whether they can discharge their obligations fully. The functional and financial empowerment had been introduced formally through the budget with greater infusion of funds to the extent of Rs. 2880 crores. This started from the month of April.
But the bodies whose five-year term expired in June-July have remained under the control of the government appointed administrators. The uncertainty over the elections contributed to the further delay. Only this month the administrators are poised to hand over the charge to the people’s representatives. This means for the first nine months of the financial year, these bodies will not be exercising the powers given to them. How much can they do in the last quarter of financial year remains to be seen.
There are other problems, which need to be straightened out for them. All of them have been put on the backburner as a consequence of the political crisis of the ministry formation. Nobody is there to care or listen to the panchayat institutions as such. (ends)
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Panchayat raj institutions have been caught in vortex of political polemics in Karnataka.
In the hype created over the imminent fall of the Congress JDS government in Karnataka, and new combination of the JDS led by Kumaraswamy the son of Devegowda taking over with the support of the BJP, the poor panchayat raj institutions find themselves totally neglected.
The political cataclysmic changes have been product of the hung verdict given by the electorate in the elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats in Karnataka held in December. But all attention in Karnataka is on when the new combination would assume office in Karnataka rather than how exactly the newly elected members of the taluk and zilla panchayats begin their reign.
To be true, none of the three main line political parties in Karnataka were eager to have panchayat elections. They had tried their best to postpone them. But their efforts were thwarted by the intervention of the Supreme Court. Under the circumstances all were very reluctant players in the elections. Though they had some premonition about the effect of the panchayat verdict on the political scene, none of them even in their wildest dreams had bargained for the wholesale change of political equations in Karnataka. The developments may bring far-reaching changes in the political scenario of Karnataka but have certainly not augured well for the panchayat raj institutions, which are eagerly waiting to begin their five-year reign.
The panchayat elections held in December, it may be noted here mark an important phase in the history of the panchayat raj movement in Karnataka. For the first time the State Government had empowered them both functionally and financially to the extent that an amount of more than Rs. 100 crores on an average is kept for the first time at the disposal of the panchayat raj institutions in each of the 27 districts in Karnataka. Two thirds of the amount would come to the newly elected bodies, the taluk and zilla panchayats and their area of operation are clearly demarcated and funds come to them directly. This is for the first time that these institutions have been given the kind of right and responsibility and financial wherewithal to manage their institutions.
But the problem is that whether they can discharge their obligations fully. The functional and financial empowerment had been introduced formally through the budget with greater infusion of funds to the extent of Rs. 2880 crores. This started from the month of April.
But the bodies whose five-year term expired in June-July have remained under the control of the government appointed administrators. The uncertainty over the elections contributed to the further delay. Only this month the administrators are poised to hand over the charge to the people’s representatives. This means for the first nine months of the financial year, these bodies will not be exercising the powers given to them. How much can they do in the last quarter of financial year remains to be seen.
There are other problems, which need to be straightened out for them. All of them have been put on the backburner as a consequence of the political crisis of the ministry formation. Nobody is there to care or listen to the panchayat institutions as such. (ends)
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Monday, January 23, 2006
HUBLI, JAN 24
One may not admire the former Prime Minister, Mr. Devegowda for the means he adopts to come to power. But one has to hand him the kudos for the manner in which he has outwitted the Congress, which had a penchant for taking the coalition partners for a ride in national politics.
Everybody thought that the rustic looking former Prime Minister could be bamboozled by the sheer might of the Congress. He has played his card so beautifully and so close to his chest. Whichever the things may happen, it is now assured that his son Mr. Kumaraswamy is assured of becoming the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. With the support of the BJP, as the things stand today, or with the support of the Congress in case the latter reverses its stand pockets its pride and capitulates before the superior strategic card played by Mr. Devegowda. Look at it any way. It is a win win situation for Mr. Devegowda.
When Mr. Kumaraswamy sprang a surprise by going to the Governor of Karnataka to announce the withdrawal of the support to the Dharam Singh Ministry, and offered to form the ministry with the support of the BJP, many in Karnataka, thought that he was a case where the son was defying his father. Because the father was still talking about the continuance of the Dharma Singh Ministry. Mr. Devegowda had even lulled Mr. Dharam Singh into complacency, as has been candidly admitted by the latter too that by dismissing the reports of Kumaraswamy’s efforts as of nono consequence.
However the old Karnataka hands, who have been closely watching Mr. Devegowda were however not fooled. They immediately said that it was a Devegowda inspired move made in the name of Mr. Kumaraswamy. Immediately a parallel was drawn to the manner in which Mr. Bommai’s Ministry was sent out in 1989. Devegowda then in the party, had put on a poker face, while his lieutenants had been planning for the withdrawal of the support to their own party ministry. One of his supporters led a group of party MLAs to the Governor to announce their intention to withdraw the support and Mr. Bommai was blissfully unaware of it. And a Mr. Venkatasubbaiah, the Congress appointed Governor, immediately obliged by dismissing the government without even giving the opportunity to Mr. Bommai to prove the majority.
In the instant case also the things followed almost a similar pattern. When Mr. Kumaraswamy was finalizing plans for the formation of the next government with the BJP support, Mr. Devegowda continued to pretend that Kumaraswamy had acted out of his brief and would come around. He also gave an impression of a father having been hurt by the antics of his own son and his much published secular credentials having taken a beating because of the antics of his son. All the while he was busy in opening channels of communication with the Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for securing a good deal.
Things began to fall in place, the moment the party spokesmen started spreading the story of the reluctance on the part of the party leadership in taking disciplinary action against Mr. Kumaraswamy and of the party rank and file having agreed with the steps being taken by Kumaraswamy.
Mr. Kumaraswamy fretted and fumed over the insults meted out to his father and his party colleagues by the Congress which had crossed all limits of tolerance. And that he had taken the steps to save the honour of the party and the party leaderships. The other minions in the party also started mouthing the same words.
At present Mr. Devegowda is trying to work out an arrangement with Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for “saving the government”. In the context of the repeated assertions made by Mr. Kumaraswamy that there was no change in the stand of aligning with the BJP, the only inference that could be drawn is that the only way Mr.Kumaraswamy can retrace the step is for the Congress to acquiescence in to Mr. Kumaraswamy becoming the Chief Minister replacing Dharma Singh. There were indications in political circles that Congress may agree to the eventuality, in the context of saving the party led coalition government in the south.
Everybody remembers the famous and the last speech as the Prime Minister in loksabha, while being voted out of office that he would rise like a phoenix . He could not achieve that in national politics but has certainly achieved it by proxy as it were in Karnataka. by planning for a rule in Karnataka in the name of his son.
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1:02:32 AM. 24-Jan-06
One may not admire the former Prime Minister, Mr. Devegowda for the means he adopts to come to power. But one has to hand him the kudos for the manner in which he has outwitted the Congress, which had a penchant for taking the coalition partners for a ride in national politics.
Everybody thought that the rustic looking former Prime Minister could be bamboozled by the sheer might of the Congress. He has played his card so beautifully and so close to his chest. Whichever the things may happen, it is now assured that his son Mr. Kumaraswamy is assured of becoming the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. With the support of the BJP, as the things stand today, or with the support of the Congress in case the latter reverses its stand pockets its pride and capitulates before the superior strategic card played by Mr. Devegowda. Look at it any way. It is a win win situation for Mr. Devegowda.
When Mr. Kumaraswamy sprang a surprise by going to the Governor of Karnataka to announce the withdrawal of the support to the Dharam Singh Ministry, and offered to form the ministry with the support of the BJP, many in Karnataka, thought that he was a case where the son was defying his father. Because the father was still talking about the continuance of the Dharma Singh Ministry. Mr. Devegowda had even lulled Mr. Dharam Singh into complacency, as has been candidly admitted by the latter too that by dismissing the reports of Kumaraswamy’s efforts as of nono consequence.
However the old Karnataka hands, who have been closely watching Mr. Devegowda were however not fooled. They immediately said that it was a Devegowda inspired move made in the name of Mr. Kumaraswamy. Immediately a parallel was drawn to the manner in which Mr. Bommai’s Ministry was sent out in 1989. Devegowda then in the party, had put on a poker face, while his lieutenants had been planning for the withdrawal of the support to their own party ministry. One of his supporters led a group of party MLAs to the Governor to announce their intention to withdraw the support and Mr. Bommai was blissfully unaware of it. And a Mr. Venkatasubbaiah, the Congress appointed Governor, immediately obliged by dismissing the government without even giving the opportunity to Mr. Bommai to prove the majority.
In the instant case also the things followed almost a similar pattern. When Mr. Kumaraswamy was finalizing plans for the formation of the next government with the BJP support, Mr. Devegowda continued to pretend that Kumaraswamy had acted out of his brief and would come around. He also gave an impression of a father having been hurt by the antics of his own son and his much published secular credentials having taken a beating because of the antics of his son. All the while he was busy in opening channels of communication with the Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for securing a good deal.
Things began to fall in place, the moment the party spokesmen started spreading the story of the reluctance on the part of the party leadership in taking disciplinary action against Mr. Kumaraswamy and of the party rank and file having agreed with the steps being taken by Kumaraswamy.
Mr. Kumaraswamy fretted and fumed over the insults meted out to his father and his party colleagues by the Congress which had crossed all limits of tolerance. And that he had taken the steps to save the honour of the party and the party leaderships. The other minions in the party also started mouthing the same words.
At present Mr. Devegowda is trying to work out an arrangement with Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for “saving the government”. In the context of the repeated assertions made by Mr. Kumaraswamy that there was no change in the stand of aligning with the BJP, the only inference that could be drawn is that the only way Mr.Kumaraswamy can retrace the step is for the Congress to acquiescence in to Mr. Kumaraswamy becoming the Chief Minister replacing Dharma Singh. There were indications in political circles that Congress may agree to the eventuality, in the context of saving the party led coalition government in the south.
Everybody remembers the famous and the last speech as the Prime Minister in loksabha, while being voted out of office that he would rise like a phoenix . He could not achieve that in national politics but has certainly achieved it by proxy as it were in Karnataka. by planning for a rule in Karnataka in the name of his son.
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1:02:32 AM. 24-Jan-06
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About Me
- Mathihalli Madan Mohan
- Journalist with standing of more than fifty years in the profession. Retired as the Special Correspondent of The HINDU and has become a columnist on current affairs, the panchayats and other allied subjects