Though there is much attention and shock in Karnataka over the violence indulged in by the supporters of Jagadish Shettar in Hubli over his exclusion from the BJP ministry, what has not gone unnoticed by the cognoscenti is the steady decline in the calibre of ministers in the State as also elsewhere in the country.
Though Shettar has a strong case for inclusion, it should also be remembered that there are other heavyweights in the BJP who have been kept out. To mention some of them, D.H.Shankaramurthy, the Party senior had proved himself to be an able minister. His speeches in the Legislature and outside are always well reasoned and known for their depth. He is one of the few State BJP leaders to be eloquent in both Kannada and English. The others include Dr.V.S.Acharya , Ramachandra Gowda , S.Suresh Kumar and Dr.Mumtaz Ali Khan. Good communication skills are also needed for political leaders especially for those who wish to enter Parliament and national politics. Mere command of Kannada will not take one far. One reason as to why most MPs from Karnataka are ineffective in Parliament is their poor command of English not to speak of Hindi, though there is simultaneous translation.
Also excluded from the ministry are the former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, who is a popular Bangalore politician, Shankaralinge Gowda and Yogish Bhat, the veteran from Mangalore. The latter had not taken kindly to his non-inclusion in the Kumaraswamy-led government.
Jagadish Shettar was so far a non-controversial BJP leader known for his affability and soft speech. However it should be remembered that his selection as Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly in 1999 came under fortuitous circumstances. The present Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa lost the Assembly election then and the Party leadership did not want to entrust the opposition leader's post to another senior B.B.Shivappa. Shivappa later went out of the party and into political wilderness. Shettar was no doubt a well meaning leader but his speeches lacked fire. The division within the BJP is also stated to be a reason for his exclusion. From every angle, Shettar is best suited to be the Speaker of the new Assembly as he has the right temperament.
Coming to talent in the ministry, it is unfortunate that the BJP did not attract or encourage persons with administrative talent and high qualifications all these years. Their absence is being felt now when it has taken hold of the reins of power. No doubt after 1991 the Party attracted some veteran leaders like L.G.Havanur, H.N.Nanje Gowda and the well known economist Dr.K.Venkatagiri Gowda. But all of them deserted the party. The former Union and State minister M.Rajashekaramurthy proved to be a disappointment. If the BJP and the earlier Jan Sangh attracted notice and obscured the party from which it broke, the Janata Party , it was because of the talent pool it had at the national level- A.B.Vajpayee, L.K.Advani, Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi ,Jashwant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Nanaji Deshmukh and in later years Arun Jaitley, Arun Shourie and Sushma Swaraj. The Jan Sangh had its ideologues in the linguist Dr.Raghuvira, Prof.Balraj Madhok, the economist Dr.Bhai Mahavir ,not to speak of Deenadayal Upadhyaya.
The dearth of ministers who can inspire and lead the State has become glaring this time, though it is part of a trend in recent decades as politics has come to be dominated by the mediocre and moneybags. Other than leaders like Dr.V.S.Acharya, K.S.Eshwarappa, Ramachandra Gowda, S.Suresh Kumar, R.
Ashok, B.N.Bachhe Gowda, Basavaraj Bommai and Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, there is not much to write about in the Yeddyurappa team. Portfolios like Finance (which the Chief Minister is expected to handle), Home, Education, Law , Industries , Agriculture and Irrigation need sound leaders. There is no doubt the view that the ministers need not know much and that the IAS or other officers could be relied upon to run the administration. But we do need ministers who can lay down policies, guide the administration and run a modern State. The subjects handled by the State governments are becoming complex. Where were portfolios like Infrastructure Development, Technical Education, Medical Education, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Food Processing, Social Forestry, Watershed Development , Child and Women's Welfare or Bangalore City Development in the past ? Over reliance on officials on the part of ministers would make the former arrogant. It is well known that in the first few years after Independence, the ICS officers atleast in some of the States used to take the ministers for granted. The former Mysore chief minister Kadidal Manjappa has written about as to how he dealt with the then ICS chief secretary P.V.R.Rao. He had made him come to his chambers for discussions and not vice versa!
The BJP should realize that ministers lacking in education , social service or participation in people's movements cannot inspire the people, a large percentage of whom are today educated. It is not enough if a minister is acceptable to his caste and popular in his constituency. A minister is one for the entire State on his appointment and not for his caste or constituency. It is noticed that with the system of appointing district-in-charge ministers in vogue in the last 35 years, they lose the vision of the State and concentrate on their "kingdoms". It was Devaraj Urs who began to appoint district in charge ministers to look after the implementation of populist programmes like the 20-Point programme. In recent years, some of the ministers have spent more time in their districts than in Bangalore. Many of them are ever on tour.
Everyone is commenting on the overload of poor quality iron ore from Bellary District the Yeddyurappa bandwagon is carrying. There are three from Bellary G.Karunakar Reddy, G.Janardhana Reddy and B.Sriramulu at the cost of some deserving ones from other districts who have been left out. One Cabinet minister for Bellary would have sufficed, though the three from there are known to have played a major role in the spectacular show of the BJP in the elections in the District and for winning over the six independent MLAs. Sriramulu had been arrested during the election campaign and he is on bail. Janardhana Reddy had been questioned by the police but not arrested. There are other old cases pending against Sriramulu. Their appointment is untenable.
No doubt in recent decades the chief ministers depend on one or two street-smart ministers to tackle difficulties , raise funds , plant stories in the media and the like. Even Ramakrishna Hegde had one such minister in the late Jeevaraj Alva, who was otherwise an able person . There were the former chief minister R.Gundu Rao and F.M.Khan in the time of Devaraj Urs. S.M.Krishna had to come to rely on D.K.Shivakumar . The former chief minister H.D.Kumaraswamy himself was a tough and crafty individual ,it might be said. But a party with a difference like the BJP needs more of "brain" in its ministry and less of "brawn" or muscle power.
Processing please wait ...
Top Stories
