An exercise that could not be savoured

An exercise which could not be savoured

HUBLI, Mar  24th, 2012

           

            D V Sadananda Gowda , who became Chief Minister  more by accident than design, was naturally all set to enjoy the thrill and excitement  of presenting  his maiden budget, as has been the wont with all the first timers handling the job. The Chief Minister handling the finance portfolio or the Finance Minister  look forward to the occasion, which gives them the opportunity to show their skills of mobilisng resources,  managing the funding and tread on the path of development to  meet the aspirations of the people, whose expectations are naturally high.

            But the circumstances conspired in such a way that  Gowda  could hardly savour  the occasion  which ended up as a nerve racking exercise indeed. Caught in quagmire of political intrigues,  and chicanery, even as the sword  of Damocles hanging over his head perilously, Gouda, whose days as the Chief Minister appear definitely numbered, was able to present budget itself has to be taken as an achievement of sorts.

            .Firstly his own mentor, the former  Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, who had catapulted Gowda to the gaddi seven months ago, turned out to be his worst adversary.   Yeddyurappa, who has been pressurising the party high command for his rehabilitation as the Chief Minister,  was found  virtually breathing down on his neck of the Chief Minister , in a bid to make him vacate the seat in his favour and thereby prevent  Gouda from presenting the budget.  Both of them said to be not even talking terms in the end.

            Secondly, Yeddyurappa and his camp followers including the prominent cabinet colleagues of Gowda,  would never miss the opportunity  to send out hints that it was not Gowda but Yeddyurappa who would ultimately present the budget, which is the last one, before the party went to the people for the renewal of the mandate.  And the manner in which Yeddyurappa herded his supporters to a resort on the outskirts of Bangalore, cast a shadow of boycott of the budget session by the ruling party members, a prospect, most embarrassing for any Chief Minister.

            What however could not be understand was  the shrillness with which Yeddyurappa insisted that he should have the opportunity to present the budget this time. After all whether Yeddyurappa presents  or Gowda does so, the budget presented would be that of the BJP government in Karnataka, with bouquets and brickbats whatever may be coming to the party government as a whole and  there is nothing personal in it. If Yeddyurappa had any apprehension that being new to power, Gowda would not be able to properly understand the nuance of budget making and budget preparation on the eve of the election, nothing prevented a senior leader like Yeddyurappa to guide his protégé properly on meeting aspirations people in preparing budget of his choice with a view to achieving the political  objectives.

            The budget crossing the milestone of Rs, one lakh crore  mark is indeed an achievement but it is not clear what special credit would come to him which he did not want to go to the Chief Minister and insisted that  he alone should have the  privilege of presenting the historic nature of the budget.  For crossing the mark, which can, for record purposes can be considered as a milestone, is a natural phenomenon in the present state of development and there is nothing of a personal achievement of any sorts for anybody.

             Thirdly   some of the cabinet colleagues of Chief Minister, - all camp followers of Yeddyurappa were more in interested in serving the cause of rehabilitation of Yeddyurappa rather than worry about the development needs of the state and aspirations of the people. What however made the matters worse was that till the last minute Gouda was not sure whether   he would be able to present the budget at all, a coveted achievement in a way for any new Chief Minister in office testing his political waters.

            Fourthly riven by the internecine quarrels and deep schism within its ranks, the party organisation was hardly in a position to give any political input in the preparation of the budget to the fledgling Chief Minister.

            What came however as a manna from heaven for the beleaguered Chief Minister and help him present the budget amidst the adversity was the unstinted support extended by the party high command which firmly stood by his stand that there was no change of leadership at this juncture and it was Gouda who would present the budget. Sheepishly, Yeddyurappa his crowd trouped back to the assembly from which they had stayed away to avoid any embarrassment being caused either to the Chief Minister or the party at the national level.

            Under the circumstances, the Chief Minister obviously had hardly any time to devote to the preparation of the budget and in mapping out the plan of development and in husbanding the resources.    In a way the budget is nothing but a bureaucratic exercise of cobbling up of figures. Care has been taken to take cognisance of the political necessity of keeping every one happy   in view of the impending fresh polls to the assembly , which may come any time in less than a year.

            The mantra therefore has been to please everyday and hurt none. As a consequence the government servants, who have to be kept happy and contented for any party to return to power, have got a bonanza of increased emoluments.  Though services of the residuary component of the daily wage workers could not be regularised as promised, all of them were assured of a hike to the tune of Rs. 1000 per month. which would the exchequer to the tune of Rs. 4500 crores. . The farm sector was given a sop in the form of interest free short term crop loans to the tune of Rest in the agricultural budget presented for the second time in succession. The Brihat Bangalore Maha Nagara Palike has got special attention for meeting the citizens felt needs while other urban agglomerations in Karnataka, have notnot got the needed attention.

             The policy  of Yeddyurappa government in showering the largesse on the religious institutions has been continued, the only change being the marked tilt towards the OBCs.. Perhaps  whoever have advised Gouda to take this step apparently have no idea of the  political history of Karnataka, where the OBCs are yet to emerge as one single political identity. Devaraj Urs who was the pioneer and the first man to shape the OBC segment into a political instrument  miserably failed, when the OBCs failed to rally round him when the testing time came  in the battle of ballots.

            And the casualty in the process has been the development in general and  of the infrastructure in particular. The increased allocations made  for several sectors have to be taken with a pinch of salt, since the BJP government in Karnataka has hardly shown any propensity in meeting the planned targets. And the year 2011-12 has been the worst in view of the internal turmoil within the BJP. The policy of government in ensuring the full utilisation of  water allocated in Krishna basin, the biggest of the two riverine systems of Karnataka, leaves much to be desired in the absence of anytime bound policy. Though the Second Krishna River Water Dispute Tribunal has  fixed the quota of water for utilisation, the state government is yet to come out with a time bound programme not only for the water left unutilised so far but of the extra allocation made  available by the Tribunal. There is hardly anything to revive the food  production, which has hit a stagnant pitch.