Once the darling of the media, the ever smiling Union minister for programme implementation and planning D.V. Sadananda Gowda is now keeping the media at arm’s length. His surprising reason: “They do not write about good things. Therefore, I think I should keep a distance from them,” explains Mr Gowda. As railway minister and now as programme implementation programme minister, he oversees the Centre’s allocation to Karnataka. In an interview with DC, he was unusually hard on CM Siddaramaiah. Here are excerpts.
You topped the list of MPs who successfully implemented the Adarsha Grama Yojana. How did you make it possible?
This is not an ordinary infrastructure development programme. Development of roads and drainage can take place under any infrastructure project. We have to empower people in the village selected for this programme. In Byatarayanapura, we gave sewing and photo copy machines to people. Besides, families got cylinders under Ujjwala scheme. Thanks to companies like Infosys Foundation, ITC and Embassy Group I spent CSR funds upto Rs 20 crore. Farmers were given sheep which they bred and they are now ready to give sheep back as gifts. I helped flower vendors and pushcart sellers get funds under Mudra Yojana from various banks. I tried to change the face of the village picked up under this programme.
The complaint against Indian politicians is that they focus on development of areas where their party is strong and ignore the demands of voters identified with rival parties?
I was not involved in the selection of villages. In the past, I had entrusted experts from IIT and zilla panchayats with the task. And the villages chosen were all ‘Congress’ villages. I did not discriminate so all are happy now. Now I am focusing on organizing job melas to get jobs for young boys and girls from eight standard to ITI certificate holders.
While participating in a programme last week, railways minister Suresh Prabhu had reeled out figures which are astonishing. Karnataka got so much money after the NDA government came to power...
(smiles)..When Khargeji (Mallikarjun Kharge) was railway minister, he gave Rs 713 crore to the state and during my turn, I gave Rs 1,714 crore. Then again, we got over Rs 2,000 crore in the last three years. When I was railway minister, I sanctioned 21 trains of which 19 were made operational.
But CM Siddaramaiah has been claiming that Karnataka got a raw deal from NDA government. None of you counter his view.
(smiles) We made a booklet and distributed it. (pauses) But the media will not write about such issues. Mr Ananth Kumar and Yeddyurappaji are good at aggressive politics. They attack rivals but I do not. I am the last man to do that. I pass political comments. I prefer to attack my rivals with sugar coated words. As opposition leader, I did the same in the Council. During the budget discussion I showed how the CM was wrong which Mr Siddaramaiah himself admitted. Similarly, when RDPR minister H.K. Patil gave wrong information about sugar factories in Punjab, I countered with proof for which he later apologized.
The question was about central funds. Mr Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues have been complaining about the step-motherly treatment meted out to Karnataka. Recently, they expressed dissatisfaction over funds released for drought relief work.
(laughs..) Why does our CM keep speaking about injustice? It’s something interesting. (pauses) Frankly speaking, he is the most depressed and disappointed CM. He is now clear about his future, he will not return to power. Till the day he is there in the CM seat, he will indulge in such campaigns. We are busy doing meaningful work. Once poll campaign starts, we will enter the arena. We will show our communication skills. We have our biggest trump card, PM Modi. Vision, hard work, transparency, cooperative federalism, Mr Modi has done so much. He has clarity. His style and strategy will wash away CM’s programmes and rhetoric.
The CM does not carry a negative image, he does not suffer from anti-incumbency. Besides he has an aggressive and positive style of politics. How can you create a negative situation now?
You might be right in your view. (smiles) You remember what happened in UP. Till six months before the polls, Akhilesh Yadav was ahead. He was sure to come back. Wasn’t it? You know what happened in the end.
UP is different from Karnataka. Mr Yadav had to face dissent. Here Mr Siddaramaiah has no such issues.
No other party has so much internal dissent as the Karnataka Congress has. You have seen how he got home minister Dr G. Parameshwar removed. The latter had to quit not because of one-man-one-post principle. The CM did not want him in cabinet. His attitude is simple: If I am heading the government, it should be mine and there should be no seniors. You are saying the Congress is in the pink of health. Why does it have so many working presidents? One for north and the other for south. Isn’t it odd? They may as well appoint one for east, west and central Karnataka too. The state Congress has more than 10 groups.
You speak like BJP is free from internal squabbles..
Yes we did have them. The differences vanished as fast as they surfaced. It was an aberration.
Many inside BJP say because of tussle, the party lost morale?
I was party president for four and a half years. I know how things happen in BJP. Mr Yeddyurappa’s fiery speeches and his state tours have given a clear direction. And as I said earlier, Modi’s administration will give us an edge.
But the CM is on a mission to woo Lingayats and Vokkaligas..
For four years, you break their legs and ribs and now you come forward to give them free ICU treatment. (smile) People are good at analysing this. They still remember some of the welfare programmes of Mr Yeddyurappa which are above caste lines. Schemes like Bhagyalakshmi and Bicycle schemes are still remembered. His statewide tour and Dalit outreach programme have been successful. Siddaramaiah will go the Akhilesh way. Dr Parameshwar has decided that no matter what happens to the party, this man (Siddaramaiah) should not become CM again. Mr Kharge is the only leader who is happy because he managed to get a berth for his son in the council of ministers. Senior leaders H.K. Patil and D.K. Shivakumar are nowhere to be seen. You have seen how Mr (Janardhan) Poojary has been speaking. Mr Vishwanath has left the party. On this day, if the Congress weighs ten grams, we weigh ten kg.
Isn’t Dalit outreach programme of your party a poll gimmick?
People do not think like that. Yes, I agree there was a time when Dalits did not back us. The community gave a very big push to Mr Modi and his work. When Mr Yeddyurappa goes to a Dalit’s house, many call it a drama. But now, thousands of party workers go and stay at the houses of Dalits for 15 days under Vistaraka programme. I am going to Chikkamagalur and staying in a SC man’s house. You mark my words, you will see the change of perception soon.
It is ironic that Sri Vishwesha Teertha Swamiji of Pejawar Math, who supported the Hindutva cause, was booed and abused by your partymen for hosting an Iftar?
Hosting iftar was a defining moment. A good gesture I would say. But allowing them to do namaz inside the math was not taken in the right spirit. I too had expressed my displeasure to the Swamiji but he defended his position.
Your frontal organizations and their leaders abused the pontiff. Is it fair?
No, I do not accept it. Insulting the swamiji was not fair. He is one of the tallest saints of the Hindu community. In politics, we differ and then we join hands. Why can’t have differences with the Swamiji and respect the pontiff later.
