Listening to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the bhumi puja of a city-based defence firm’s new complex took one back in time. Some of us may recall how during the information technology wave in the country in the early 2000s, Mr. Naidu, the then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh, although a late starter, aggressively lured global IT giants such as Microsoft and Google to his home State and knocked Bengaluru out of many an investment race.
This time, Mr. Naidu’s sights have been set on another economic niche that Bengaluru is synonymous with: aerospace and defence. Openly exhorting the host defence company to do more in his State, Mr. Naidu said the new unit would grow to excel its sister unit in Bengaluru. New investors had only to name their wish and it would be granted. “We want to create one of the best ecosystems for aerospace and defence in Anantapur and Kurnool and we are going to attract huge investments,” he thundered. Considering the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s record and his good equation with the Centre, it looks like the Siddaramaiah government will have to wake up and start guarding its dear turf.
How to beat
a ‘bad’ time
For many Indians, individuals and industry included, the ongoing fortnight before Dasara is a ‘no-no’ time for starting new ventures. Many people reserve the ‘inauspicious’ pitru paksha for remembering the dead. Recently, a conservative public sector company based in Karnataka was somewhat worried. It was launching one of its most important projects at a place about two hours by road from Bengaluru in a neighbouring State. But the Union Minister, who heads its department and was coming down to lay its foundation stone, had given a date that fell in the middle of the undesirable band. The company found an interesting way out. On a ‘good day’ just before the ‘bad’ period set in, it completed a ‘havan’ to invoke divine blessings for its ambitious project. The head of the unit apparently presided over all the rituals along with his wife, just as the priests prescribed. Of course, on the appointed day, six days later, the Minister laid the foundation stone at a mega event. The ‘bad day’ was beaten and the powers that be got their names etched for the record.
Keeping the IPS out
Who is afraid of young IPS officers? Politicians, although you can’t get them to admit it. Recently, the State government appointed a 2013-batch IPS officer as the Assistant Superintendent of Police of Bidar. He was to replace a 2012-batch IPS officer, who had completed a one-year term. The office of the Director-General of Police even issued the transfer orders for the new officer. However, when the officer did not turn up, the talk in official circles was that certain politicians had blocked the transfer. And that they did not want a direct IPS recruit but would be happy with a State services officer being promoted to the post. It is learnt that at least two leaders and a few Ministers approached the police headquarters, pleading that it would be difficult for them to “adjust” to an all-India service officer. The district has an MP, three MLCs and six MLAs. When reporters asked a few leaders as to who had lobbied against the IPS officer, each one denied it.
Senior police officials in Bengaluru, however, had a good laugh. “Politicians think that young IPS officers won’t follow their orders blindly. They think these officers will strictly go by the rule book and keep politics out of decision-making,” an officer explained.
Congress-BJP vs. JD(S) in KGF?
If the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) came together to grab power at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the scene is quite the opposite in Robertsonpet City Municipal Council in Kolar Gold Fields. The Congress is trying to dislodge the CMC’s president from the JD(S), M. Bhaktavatsalam, by joining hands with rival BJP. The reason is said to be the differences between Mr. Bhatavatsalam, a former MLA, and K.H. Muniyappa, Kolar MP and Congress leader. It is learnt that the MP is luring BJP councillors to wrest the president’s chair from the JD(S). In the 35-member CMC, the JD(S) has six members, while the Congress and the BJP have five each. The rest belong to the Republican Party of India and Independents. JD(S) members, who are trying to save the chair, held parleys with their president H.D. Kumaraswamy on how to foil Mr. Muniyappa’s attempt. A few local Congress leaders, too, are said to be unhappy with Mr. Muniyappa’s plan to align with the BJP. They have threatened to complain to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi when he visits Karnataka in the second week of October. Only time will tell if the two national arch-rival parties will make common cause in local politics.
Madhumathi D.S.,
Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, and Vishwa Kundapura
