Former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna quit the Congress last year and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said then that he was saddened that “all they want is managers and not grassroots leaders with experience.” In this interview, the 85-year-old leader, who was also External Affairs Minister (2009-2012) and Governor of Maharashtra (2004-2008), speaks of the challenges facing the BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, argues that identity politics won’t work in Karnataka, and explains why Bengaluru is failing to expand. Excerpts:
The BJP suffered a setback in the Rajasthan byelections. How do you read those results?
These are alarm bells for the BJP. The bypoll results in Rajasthan, I think, are the initial signs of growing restlessness among the voters. I think the BJP will have to do some introspection. It has to set the house in order before getting ready to face the next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Don’t you think the Gujarat Assembly elections were a moral defeat for the BJP?
Look at the Gujarat Assembly elections from the other angle. Anti-incumbency was one of the biggest talking points during the elections. Anti-incumbency can make or [break] a government. The State has [had] a BJP government for the last 22 years. The BJP overcame that liability and was able to register victory and install a government. So, I will plead with you to look at this: the angle of [the] enormity of anti-incumbency that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had to fight against. I think my assessment as a seasoned politician... I feel that it was a very big victory for the BJP.
Congress leaders across the country have been alleging that the Modi government is using the Income Tax (IT) department, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to target political opponents, particularly the Congress in Karnataka. What’s your view?
IT raids happen for many reasons. When I joined the BJP, there was a whisper campaign [suggesting] that to save my son-in-law (Cafe Coffee Day owner V.G. Siddhartha), I joined the BJP. But what happened? He had to go through the process of IT raids. On the other hand, in a parallel development, he set up 900-odd outlets and then created a Make in India image. If it was politically motivated, IT raids could not have happened on the premises of my son-in-law.
Are you sidelined in the BJP?
No. You see, it’s very difficult for any political party to fix me or adjust me by virtue of my age, my experience, and my stature. So, there is no point in blaming anybody. I joined the BJP to support and sustain the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
Congress leaders, including Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have termed the Union Budget proposals as a big let-down. How do you rate the Budget?
As the Opposition, the Chief Minister and other leaders have to criticise it. Look at the Budget from the healthcare point of view. I think it’s an enormous social justice item in the Budget. Healthcare for 50 crore poor Indians.... I think everyone, including me, expected that this year’s Budget was going to be election-oriented. But in the fine print there is no such inclination. They have kept the election process away while framing the Budget proposals for the year.
You quit the Congress in March 2017. How do you see the party now from outside?
Unfortunately, well-educated and vastly experienced leaders are either sidelined or not recognised in the Congress. Simply because of the hereditary qualification, he (Rahul Gandhi) became the leader and the president of the party. I knew this was coming even 8-10 months back. I knew that (former Congress president) Sonia Gandhi had lost interest, and her only political agenda was to promote her son to the position of leader. That is why a man like me, who had been associated with the party for more than four decades, had to leave.
Are you confident of the BJP coming to power in Karnataka in the forthcoming Assembly elections?
Well, elections, especially in Karnataka, cannot be easily predicted. I know it by experience. I have burnt my fingers predicting election results. So, I would not like to venture into that.
But looking at Prime Minister Modi — his personality, the kind of transparent, scam-free, purposeful government that he has provided in the last three and half years — we (BJP) have a fighting chance in the ensuing Assembly elections. As I said in one of my speeches, as and when the BJP government comes to power in Karnataka, it should reflect the image, policies, transparency and integrity of Mr. Modi in the State. Only then it is purposeful. I hope the people of this State will be assured by Mr. Modi and his leadership that we will be able to install such a BJP government in the State.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been raising issues related to identity politics, such as fighting for a separate Karnataka flag and opposing Hindi name boards in Namma Metro stations. Do you think it will fetch votes?
I don’t think so. The people of Karnataka have graduated above that. Emotive issues are no longer relevant.
The Congress has been criticising the BJP for polarising the people on religious lines in coastal Karnataka. What’s your view?
Well, in any election it would be unfair to say that there is no polarisation of people on the basis of caste/religion. There is a certain degree of polarisation. But I don’t think the whole society can be divided on the basis of that.
Don’t you think Union Minister of State for Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde is creating a wedge between minorities and Hindus by speaking of changing the Constitution?
How seriously is the Chief Minister taken by the people? I have my own assessment on that score. I don’t think the people of the State take him seriously.
What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that the same yardstick applies to Anant Kumar Hegde?
Naturally!
Bengaluru received global attention during your tenure as Chief Minister (1999-2004). How do you see the city today?
During my tenure, there was a competition between Hyderabad and Bengaluru to be recognised as the silicon hub of India. And by 2001, Bengaluru emerged as the inevitable choice by virtue of the leadership it projected and the initiatives that leaders took in promoting Information Technology and Bio Technology in Karnataka. So, Bengaluru became the Silicon Valley of India. As former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put it to me once, people outside the country started looking at India through the prism of Bengaluru. Having achieved that, I thought that in 2004 the people of the State would not let me down. But unfortunately, the people rejected me. They did not reject me totally but they forced a coalition government, and I was asked to go to Maharashtra. Since then, there has been a deliberate attempt to undo what was done in the previous five years. No initiatives, no encouragement to industries, and, as a result, the city did not expand though 60% of the revenues for the State [are] generated from Bengaluru and it could have been much more if there was a well-thought-out strategy to effectively utilise funds.
What issues dominate the Karnataka Assembly elections?
I think, governance. The very essence of development is how good governance is. I think people have become very clever. They see every move of the government. I don’t think people are carried away only by slogans.
The Lingayat community is divided on the demand for a separate religious status. How will this issue play out in the elections?
I don’t think the Lingayats are so naive as to be divided. They are a very intelligent and educated community. A large number of educational institutions in the private sector are run by Lingayat community leaders. Moreover, there has not been much activity on that front in the last few days. It has phased out. Now the committee formed to study the issue has sought six more months. By that time, elections will be over.
