Entrepreneur and Karnataka Makkala Paksha legislator Ashok Kheny is no stranger to controversy.
The Bidar South MLA told reporters that many farmers, who had committed suicide, had done so because of their drinking habits and not owing to crop loss. “[They] were a lazy and irresponsible lot, who drank and gambled without working hard,” he was widely reported as saying.
Irate farmers and their protagonists have started protesting against the colourful legislator, who also dabbles in acting in films and celebrity cricket matches between film stars and cricketers. But Mr. Kheny has defended his statement in his abrasive style. “What do journalists sitting in AC offices know about the ground reality in rural areas?” he asked his questioner on a Kannada television channel. He later tendered an apology for the remark.
This is not the such controversy. During last year’s Basava Jayanti, the 65-year-old told the gathering at the Zilla Rang Mandir: “People are complaining that I don’t attend marriages and functions of my workers and voters. I did not do it for two yeas as I was busy developing the constituency. But from now on, I will attend all functions. If you don’t invite me, I will get married again and invite you all.”
In 2014, in a review of projects in the zilla panchayat, he is reported to have brazenly told Minister Umashree that she was not only bold but also beautiful.
And Ms. Umashree reportedly ticked the legislator off and advised him to work on improving the district rather than focusing on people’s private matters.
Forging political ‘alloys’
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who rushes through a gradually rising number of engagements in Bengaluru these days, has not yet chosen to stop and speak with an eager media here.
His latest presence at a Kalam memorial event understandably turned out to be ill-suited for such things for two reasons.
One, protesters were laying siege outside the venue demanding a share of the Mahadayi river water from his home State Goa for the Kalasa Banduri project in northern Karnataka. Two, the Nirbhay subsonic cruise missile had just then failed its third test in Odisha’s Chandipur.
The small consolation was this IIT-Bombay alumnus’s talk where he made an interesting analogy to his chosen field of education and his current profession. Comparing politics to metallurgy, Mr. Parrikar told the scientific gathering that the two are not much different in the skills they must employ as both are about forging, casting and alloying.
“In politics, forging is an [essential] exercise as you have to ram a metal from all sides, even heat it. Sometimes you must forge friends into a particular shape. But casting is difficult as it must be developed [from an early stage - read childhood]. It is not easy, but my party tries to do it.”
According to him, perhaps, the most political advantageous art is alloying, “where you mix up several parties to form a new set-up.” It must have made immense sense to the scientists.
Leadership crisis in JD(S)
The 16-year-old JD(S), it seems, is facing a ‘leadership crisis’. It transpired at a recent party convention held in Palace Grounds that nobody — except party president H.D. Deve Gowda and his son H.D. Kumaraswamy — is showing interest in building the party.
With elections to zilla and taluk panchayats fast approaching, the JD(S), which is being considered a rural-based party, felt it must retain this identity.
Echoing his father, Mr. Kumaraswamy — whose image has been dented after consecutive defeats of the party in BBMP elections — urged second-rung leaders to take up responsibilities during the elections. But appeals made by him and his father had little impact on the potential second line.
To add salt to the wound, three-time MLA for Magadi H.C. Balakrishna walked out of the meet saying he was given a raw deal. Amidst acrimony, Mr. Kumaraswamy even asked Mr. Balakrishna to leave the party if he believed he was not given a suitable position.
Given the rumblings within, the other big question is whether the party can win seats in the coming elections for 25 emerging vacancies in the Legislative Council.
Shrinking space for graveyard
Do we need fertile land for graveyards? This question was posed by Minister in charge of Vijayapura district M.B. Patil during the quarterly Karnataka Development Programme meeting. It was a discussion on shrinking spaces for graveyards in the midst of increasing demand for them in rural areas. Mr. Patil said, “Why are you not identifying a suitable land for graveyards? Do you need fertile lands? Identify any wasteland near the village and buy it,” he directed the officials.
Mr. Patil also cautioned Revenue officials to make sure the identified land does not belong to any particular caste or community.
“Do not categorise it as graveyard of any particular community. Let people of all communities use it,” he said.
Rishikesh Bahadur Desai,
Madhumathi D.S.,
Muralidhara Khajane,
and Firoz Rozindar
