Monday, November 19, 2007

Bangalore politics stinks

Sick -- that's in one word the state of politics in Karnataka today. Since September, the state's politics has been going from bad to worse. To what depths it can further descend remains to be seen.

In yet another disgusting turn of events, Janata Dal (S) which only a week back agreed to support a BJP government, today evening changed tack, told its MLAs not to support the government in the upcoming confidence vote, forcing chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to resign. Thus BJP's first government in south India lasted just a week. This is the second time in two months that JD(S) has played the villain.

Nowhere in the world politics has a great reputation. It's the art of intrigue, manipulation, stage management and skulduggery. However, there can also be good politics: of course, it can only seemingly be good. That's when politicians behave well, stick to accepted norms of a civil society, uphold social values, respect commitment to society and work for overall social welfare.

Politics is a mechanism of administering a society and bad politics can wreak havoc. When politics goes from bad to worse, it can have catastrophic effects on social stability. In democratic societies, good politics facilitates the fruition of inputs into various social sectors, like education, health, shelter, nutrition, infrastructure, etc. The fledgling Naxalite movement is one example of what bad politics can result.

As things stand today JD(S) is the spoiler. It's hard to imagine what people like JD(S) leader Deve Gowda, who is no less than a former Prime Minister, have in mind when engineering such reckless destabilisation games. It's not even greed for power; because, even greed for power has to end at some point. And it is also amazing that there'sn't a voice of sanity anywhere near him.

The ideal solution will be to dissolve the Assembly and order fresh elections. And hopefully, the people will set things right.

5 comments:

  1. I know! Really sick! And what's the point of the drama anyway? I mean, for the oath-taking cermony of Mr. Yedurappa, they blocked half the road, screwed up the traffic, wasted money, and now he's resigning. If president's rule is implimented again, i'll go nuts. They need to do something.

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  2. The so called marching forwards by India which the then President Kalam was fond of saying often was in the IT outsourcing sweat shop sector but not in the area of politics. Karnaka politics today is a reflection of moral bankruptsy in Indian politics that one can see today, In a way it is also a reflection of the Indian society today. After all the politicians are drawn from the society at-large. I cannot say
    India is marching backwards as India as politics was reasonably clean in 1950s and 60s. 'Morality, decency and the good for the society and country were the mantras of politicians of yore mentioned above. Politicians like Gowda should be shunned at all costs.

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  3. Your post prompted me to give my take on the murky Karnataka politics.

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  4. politics seems to stink in every part of the world.sigh.
    alot of hindus here avoid beef as well.i'm just an occasional eater ;)

    nice pics of Malaysia.Glad you enjoyed your trip here!

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  5. i agree largely with your statement. but what needs to be noticed is that inspite of the the huge political instability, large scale development works have progressed unhampered. :)
    Bangalore

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