Bangalore: The kesari bhaat was sweet, the khara baat had a kick and the kali dosa, served by his cook Kempe Gowda, was as soft as any served in a Mysore home.
At breakfast with Mysore’s most famous son, Chief Minister SiddaraÂmaiah, who dotted his dosa with generous helpings of ghee, shed his acerbic public persona to display, not just the warmth and banter that have won him a following, but the shrewd ability to out-think his opponent that has helped him win two bypolls in the former Janata Dal (S) bastions.
It’s when he held out the promise that the two comprehensive bypoll wins in Mandya and Bangalore Rural would be followed by the ruling party reclaiming JD(S) bastion, Hassan, that Chief Minister SiddaraÂmaiah showed how far he had travelled from under the long shadow cast by his mentor turned critic H.D. Deve Gowda and how much of a Congressman he had become, in his determination to end the JD(S)’ sway.
Taking charge of the party and the bureaucracy to deliver a clean and efficient government is the Congress’ Clean’s next test where he must ensure that the pro-poor strategies close to his heart that cut across class and caste, are implemented to the letter.
Amid all the challenges, there have been some heart-warming moments, he said. "During the Lok Sabha by-election, I was canvassing in Kanakpura when an old woman came up to me and said,
‘Sir, your Anna Bhagya scheme has saved me. Now, I can spend the money I save, of Rs 600-Rs 800 on my children’s education.’ In the seven months that I have been chief minister that was the most touching moment. And it showed me, how much rural and poor people benefit from our schemes." The chief minister was referring to the string of populist schemes like Anna Bhagya and Ksheera (free milk) Bhagya, and
Shaadi Bhagya, that he launched soon after he took over. "We will go to the electorate on the back of our programmes. Poor people and the Ahinda bloc are with us. It is these programmes that will help us win an even larger chunk of seats," he said, adding “together with the candidate, our strength is that the Congress party’s appeal is not limited by caste.”
“Fresh faces like Ramya’s have a huge impact, and we have started the process of looking for the right candidates with every constituency,” the chief minister said. Displaying none of the biting sarcasm that characterises his interface with the opposition, he let it be known however that strategy sessions to oust Deve Gowda from a seat that he has called his own have begun in earnest.
“It is a myth that all Vokkaligas are with him (Deve Gowda.) This is not true. We have proved that we can win Mandya and Bangalore Rural. We are determined to break the Gowda bastion, Hassan too if we put up a strong candidate," he said.
He wouldn’t tell us who that giant killer could be, but freely admitted to working to upset the BJP in its northern Lingayat dominated strongholds of Belgaum and Hubli-Dharwad, while being completely dismissive of the impact that the return of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to the BJP would have on the voter base.
While not saying he would like to decimate him, Siddaramaiah said: “If Yeddyurappa joins the BJP, the majority of the people who voted for his party would come to the Congress. Because, they do not like BJP, they will come to us. So, we are not worried. After all, the BJP is not strong. You see, it is strong in parts of Belgaum and Hubli-Dharwad. It is nowhere in Hyderabad-Karnataka and it has lost its base in Bellary."
He was equally clear that BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi issue was no challenge at all, putting the Modi mania down to media hype. "Sorry to say, you media people have given too much publicity to him. He is not so big as the media portrays him to be. Have you seen what the human development indices are for Gujarat? It ranks seventh in the country.
It is mere hype. Modi will have no impact on Karnataka. In the last election, he campaigned in coastal Karnataka. See, what happened? We won seven out of eight and even there, two Muslims, one Christian and one woman are among the seven. So, Modi’s game plan will not work here."
He was equally unimpressed by the Modi rally in the city and its probable impact. "They held a rally here. They spent so much money and how many turned up? My information is 1.5 lakh. But, we held a rally at Mandya. AICC president, Sonia Gandhi came. We arranged it within a week. Over a lakh people attended the rally. How can anyone still say Modi is popular here," argued Siddaramaiah.
