Karnataka CM must stop his temple run and concentrate on administration: R Ashok
The BJP had reposed high hopes in its senior leader and former deputy chief minister, R. Ashok, portraying him as the Vokkaliga face of the party while authorising him to expand the party base in the Old Mysuru region. In fact the party had gone to the extent of projecting him as the top leader for South Karnataka, especially in the Vokkaliga heartland. But Mr Ashok has not shown much interest in expanding the party base beyond Bengaluru, let alone other districts in Old Mysuru. He is now under severe criticism after the party failed miserably in its effort to wrest the mayoral posts in BBMP from the Congress-JD(S) coalition. The jolt comes after the party missed power by a whisker in the recent Assembly elections for which one reason was the dismal performance in Bengaluru seats. Mr Ashok did negotiate with Independent BBMP corporators, reportedly at the behest of BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa but failed to win them over handing over the mayoral post to the coalition on a platter. In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, he blamed the malpractices of the Congress and the inability of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, to make it for voting, as two reasons for the defeat. Here are excerpts.
You prepared for one month to win the mayoral elections by wooing Independent corporators to back the BJP but on election day, the Congress wrecked your plan. What went wrong with your strategy?
It was a known fact that we were short of numbers to win the mayoral posts. The Congress and JD(S) had 136 put together and we had 126. But I negotiated with Independent corporators and even held talks with Congress corporators, many of them agreed to support our candidates during the elections. Acting on the assurance of the Independents, we decided to field our candidates, but our strategy failed after the Congress hijacked the Independent corporators.
You knew you were short of numbers and yet you took the risk of fighting the polls for mayor and deputy mayor. Did you underestimate the counter strategy of the Congress?
We were hundred percent confident of winning the elections, I had personally made all arrangements. The Independents, six corporators of the Congress and even a JD(S) MLC had assured me support. But the absence of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, upset our calculations. In fact, she had assured us she would participate in the polls but at the last minute, she did not turn up. It left the Independent corporators confused and they switched sides to the coalition. They (Independents) thought BJP candidates may lose and backed the Congress-JD(S) nominees instead.
Don’t you consider it your failure to ensure the attendance of your own party voters during the crucial mayoral elections in a city like Bengaluru?
The unexpected absence of Ms Sitharaman shocked us, in fact she had even asked for the date of the mayoral elections and had confirmed her participation. Her office had informed us that the minister would be arriving to Bengaluru on Friday. Our Karnataka in-charge Muralidhar Rao, BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa and Udupi MP, Shobha Karandlaje had personally spoken with her. But at the last minute, she cancelled her Bengaluru visit.
Coming to the affairs of Bengaluru, the coalition has not shown much interest in solving its problems but what’s worse is that the BJP, despite being the opposition party, failed to nail the government. Has the BJP city leadership lost interest in raising these issues?
The H.D. Kumaraswamy government has not taken off at all, the government is busy grappling with the crop loan waiver. Moreover, the government has diverted funds including those from BBMP for the loan waiver scheme. We are keenly watching these developments and will strike the government at the right moment for its lack of concern for Bengaluru. We will wait till the Cabinet expansion, once this is over, the BJP will hold a massive protest rally against this government for its apathy towards Bengaluru.
We have an elected government in the state and a civic body in place at BBMP. In such a situation, do you agree that there is too much judicial interference in the administrative affairs of the Palike?
When the elected government is virtually dead, judicial interference is deemed necessary. In the last one month, the High Court has been giving directions to the BBMP to discharge its duties pertaining to removal of illegal hoardings, filling of potholes and desilting of stormwater drains. It is a shame for the Palike to be reprimanded by the High Court. If the BBMP discharges its duties properly and effectively, why should the courts interfere?
What about the financial status of BBMP, is it heading for bankruptcy? Recently, the BBMP Commissioner revealed shocking statistics on non-release of funds worth Rs 15,420 crore.
The coalition government is making BBMP suffer by diverting funds for the farm loan waiver scheme. The BBMP Commissioner’s statement on financial mismanagement was hundred percent true. In the last five years, the government has not released adequate funds to the Palike. Contractors’ bills have been pending for long, in fact the BBMP has no funds to pay pourakarmikas too. The BJP will take up this issue in the coming days.
What do you have to say about the four months the Kumaraswamy government has been in power?
The Chief Minister is busy visiting temples. There is not governance in the state, developmental activities have come to a standstill. All we see is transfer of officers. The Chief Minister must stop his temple run and concentrate on administration. As Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, I was shocked to hear about the financial mismanagement of the government. It had gathered crores of rupees for the welfare of construction labourers by collecting 1 percent cess from building contractors but more than Rs 600 crore remains unutilized. In fact, the state government has diverted the Rs 600 crore for other purposes. This came to our notice during a recent meeting of the Public Accounts Committee.
