Veteran writer and Kannada activist Chandrashekhar Patil has said that it is not possible to curb corruption in society without implementing radical electoral reforms.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, he said that mere anti-corruption laws would not help as elections were the source of corruption.
Mr. Patil was here to campaign for Aravind Dalawai, an Independent candidate who is contesting the elections to the Legislative Council from the Karnataka North West Teachers’ constituency.
He said that unless conceptual clarity emerged among voters, undeserving politicians would keep winning. On the decision of the BJP to not field Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka following opposition from Kannada activists, Mr. Patil claimed that their struggle had witnessed partial success.
“When the activists started the campaign against Mr. Naidu, the heat was felt by the Congress too, which changed its plan to field P. Chidambaram from Karnataka to the Rajya Sabha. Though the BJP chose Nirmala Sitharaman, who is a Tamilian, our demand to nominate a Kannadiga was not fulfilled,” he said.
Lambasting the 13 BJP MPs of Karnataka, he alleged that they were not striving to get justice for Karnataka in the Mahadayi waters issue.
“I wonder what these MPs are doing when their own party is in power at the Centre. If these MPs did not stand in support of the State, then the people here will teach them a fitting lesson in future,” Mr. Patil said.
Meanwhile, he said that he should not have supported the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa when he floated the Karnataka Janata Paksha.
