The exit of J. Krishna Palemar from the Ministry of D.V. Sadananda Gowda puts his career at the crossroads.
His re-entry to the cabinet, if it all it happens, may not be easy for him.
He is among the three Ministers who resigned on Wednesday over the issue of watching pornographic clippings in the Legislature.
The erstwhile Minister for Ecology, Environment, Port and Inland Water Transport, aged 56, does not come from any political ideology or struggle.
Not the one picked up from the RSS, he is not known to have obtained intellectual insights into issues of the environment, of which he was a Minister.
There is little to suggest that soft-spoken Mr. Palemar has vision for the district of which he has been in-charge, though he is credited to have led the opposition to the now-shelved Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) gunning for acquisition of a whopping 75,000 acres of land. His claim to fame has been his accessibility and the way he mixes with people from all religion and political affiliation.
This openness endeared him to the masses in Surathkal area where he rose politically. He heard the grievances of people with patience. Though he had not reined in communal forces – it is even alleged that he sheltered some of them – it is vastly believed that he is among the BJP leaders disfavouring undue harm to social equilibrium.
But he has let political compulsions overtake his personal convictions.
Promoter of Landlinks Builders and Developers since 1981, he is one of the biggest builders in the city. Not counted as a grass root worker of the BJP, his growth was accidental. He became BJP member in 2000 and later member of the State executive committee in 2002. The BJP fielded him from the erstwhile Surathkal Assembly constituency in 2004 election. He defeated two-time Congress MLA K. Vijaya Kumar Shetty. He retained the seat in 2008 in the constituency rechristened as Mangalore North. Sidelining four-time MLAs N. Yogish Bhat and S. Angara from the district, he was picked up to join the Ministry of B.S. Yeddyurappa and later of Mr. Gowda.
Pro-builder
Mr. Palemar has a pro-builder image. Several changes initially sought to be brought to the Master Plan for Mangalore, depriving small site holders a facility to build houses while benefiting big builders only enhanced the image. Public outcry however, led to some positive changes. Yet changes allow additional construction in the existing commercial buildings in the city without creating parking facility – a retrograde step for the fast-growing city.
Controversies
Over a year ago, a heap of sand, allegedly stocked unauthorisedly at the Vikas College of Physiotherapy, of which he is a trustee, led to a controversy. Recently, Mangalore Urban Development Authority passed a resolution to change the city's Master Plan against widening a road near the college following an application by the college.
