Former Chief Secretary, K. Ratna Prabha, raised quite a few eyebrows when she joined the BJP in Kalaburagi on April 4. In fact, she was tipped to be the BJP candidate in the constituency before Dr Umesh Jadhav was fielded by the party to take on veteran Congress leader, Mallikarjun Kharge. But she seems to have taken it sportingly, and is campaigning hard for Dr Jadhav. K.N. Reddy caught up with her for a chat. Excerpts from an interview
Why did you opt for the BJP?
I retired in June 2018. All through my career I have been working for people and was always busy . Once I retired I was at home and didn’t know what to do. I have been hearing about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how he has been working to build the country. I thought why not get involved? He is like a commander-in-chief and as I’m healthy and strong , I can contribute to the development of the country using my experience.
You have been a bureaucrat for many years and have seen many governments, but feel Mr Modi has done the best work?
Yes, I have seen what has been happening. We wanted to do so much. But things move very slowly. I thought this is one party, which has a lot of ideas and I should associate with it.
It’s alleged that the BJP is a party of Banias and Brahmins and largely represents the concerns of the upper castes. Do you agree with this view?
I see it differently. The way the BJP has welcomed me, the Congress and JD(S) did not. You already know that I was in the race for the Chief Secretary in 2016. Although I was the seniormost, they denied me the post. If they were not for Banias and Brahmins they should have given it to me They brought a Bania to unseat me although I was working with Mr Siddaramaiah and took the industries department from the 13th position when I joined it, to the eighth position in 2013-14 and to the number one position in 2015-16. It was not easy, because Gujarat was at number one position. I worked day and night and drafted a wonderful industrial policy. I made a policy for women, SC/STs and for backward areas. He was the Chief Minister, Industries Minister and saw how I worked. But still he said, “I’m under pressure, I need to give it to somebody else.” I told him, Sir you will be creating history by appointing a Dalit woman as Chief Secretary.
The credit will go to you more than to me if I am appointed. But he was under the pressure of upper castes. So who is a Bania and Brahmin ? But Mr Yeddyurappa, although he had not seen me and only heard of me, said when the media went to him, “Yes as a woman she deserves it and is doing a good job. I support her cause.” When I met him after three months, he said, “ I’m sorry if my statement did you any harm as you did not get the post.” I was only given four months (as Chief Secretary) just for show before the elections. And when I asked for an extension, they gave me three months when they could have easily given me six. When the JD(S) government came to power, Mr Deve Gowda went to Delhi and got my extension cancelled. He got the letter withdrawn. In the (state) Cabinet they said we recommended her name, but it was not approved although they knew and I knew, they had withdrawn the letter. They misled the Cabinet. Where is the question of them being pro-Dalit or whatever? Again they brought in an upper caste man as Chief Secretary who had two- and –a- half years of service. Giving me three months extension would not have made any difference. They could have supported me because for the first time a Dalit woman had become the Chief Secretary. They could have taken the credit.
Why did you choose Kalaburagi to join the BJP and campaign for it here?
It all happened very suddenly. When Mr Yeddyurappa invited me to join the party, he told me he was in Kalaburagi for filing of Dr Umesh Jadhav’s nomination papers. As I have worked in the area and people like me, I thought this was the best place to join the party.
But a feeling has gained ground that you have decided to campaign against Congress veteran, Mallikarjun Kharge.
Yeah.. naturally...I joined the BJP not to campaign only for Dr Jadhav... I have a larger perspective in mind. Ultimately it is to make Mr Modi the Prime Minister again.
But Mr Kharge is said to be a champion of Dalit causes.
There can be many Dalit representatives. Mr Kharge is not the only one. Dalits have many problems. But I’m not working only for the cause of Dalits, but also for women, tribals and other downtrodden. I have never identified with one community and always worked for the people. In fact, people are quite confused about my community. It’s because of the election that it is being highlighted.
There is one section which says Mr Kharge is the champion of development and another, which says if he was ,why is there so much poverty and migration of people.
It’s very sad that so many labourers are migrating for employment, Kalaburagi is close to Hyderabad, Solapur and other big cities, but there was no air connectivity here. It has taken eight to ten years for the airport to come up here. When I was industries secretary, about 3,000 acres was acquired in Chittapur, but the land lay idle due to court cases. I ensured that they were cleared within a month or so and the compensation paid. I motivated Coco-Cola to come here to create employment and created the Textile Park. After I got transferred, things are as they were.
Why is there a new trend of retired bureaucrats joining political parties?
Politics allows you to keep in touch with the people. That is my reason for joining it. Moreover, one feels it is too early to retire at 60. We can work for another 10 to 15 years. And also you are within the system and you know what can be done.
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