It resembles a theatre of the absurd. When Karnataka gears up for elections in 2018, its electorate may find rival groups and the ruling party raising the same slogan i.e.; Good Governance and Government in Action in Karnataka.
When Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah formed a government in 2013, it was the slogan of good governance that led him to victory. On 13 May this year, as the government completed three years in power, many believe that governance has been the biggest casualty in his rule.
From farmer suicides, to the state’s worst water crisis, a massive demonstration by the garment factory workers and crippling infrastructure in Bengaluru, the list of failures is long. We spoke to prominent citizens in Karnataka to nail the performance graph of the Siddaramaiah government.
Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Member Rajya Sabha
The Good,
I can’t find a single achievement of this government that is worth discussing. The only thing that comes to mind are the efforts by the ‘Bengaluru minister’ to bring some changes, only in the last few months.
The Bad..
With the whole of northern Karnataka reeling under drought, all this government has done is petition the Centre to give more money. Bengaluru is the gateway to investments in Karnataka but they have used the city as a piggy bank without any returns. There is leakage of public money and lack of leadership that can fix tax evasion.
And The Ugly!
Currently the government is dysfunctional. Siddaramaiah came to power with a reputation of being a tough administrator and with the promise of good governance. It’s a breach of contract by him.
Harish Bijoor, Brand Consultant, Bengaluru
The Good,
One of the biggest achievements of the Siddaramaiah government has been to maintain the secular tapestry of the state. There has been continuous governance, despite various rumours of a new Chief Minister coming in.
The Bad..
The biggest failure of the government is the missing on-ground action. The global investors’ meet was a good step but where are the investments? Have they hit the road and what have they delivered?
And The Ugly!
In the election year, the water crisis is going to be the toughest issue for this government. Facing the state’s worst drought, the people in Karnataka need to look up to the skies and hope that even though the government wouldn’t have planned for it at least the divine entity has some plans.
Mohan Das Pai, Ex-CFO Infosys
The Good,
His greatest achievement has been staying in power. He set right the fiscal situation which was broken by corruption in the previous BJP government. The financial graph of the state was going down and he stopped the decline.
The Bad..
Five years of the BJP government dumped the employment opportunities but the biggest failure of the Siddaramaiah government has been a complete lack of vision. The government survived on subsidies. In the next two years government needs to focus on the development of Bengaluru which makes up 60 percent of Karnataka’s GDP. If you destroy Bengaluru, people are not going to come to Karnataka.
And The Ugly!
Karnataka is the only large state that is Congress led. I have no evidence to prove this but I strongly feel that the reason behind the corruption charges against Siddaramaiah is the effort by his government to raise funds for the party in Delhi.
Leo Saldanha, Environmentalist, Bengaluru
The Good,
The problems faced by Karnataka and the mounting water crisis is not generated by the current government. They are issues that the state has faced for long.
Bad..
What the government was expected to do in last three years is revamping the state’s rivers and water sheds. While the government did nothing. Now it has created an unconstitutional ‘Bengaluru vision group’ which is nothing but a ‘club of rich and famous’. The people in this group are not experts and this will lead to worsening of the crisis.
And The Ugly!
If you visit villages in north Karnataka, men, women and children have all left. The old are guarding the animals and the houses because there are no crops growing. The situation is more frightening because we have a government that does not even acknowledge that there is a calamity. The helicopter visits of the Siddaramaiah government have demoralised farmers.
Prakash Belawadi, Theatre Artist & Bollywood Actor, Bengaluru
The Good,
There is no good that I can pronounce for this government.
Bad..
We had a terrible previous government and we invested a lot of hope in Siddaramaiah but the problem is he has no great direction and no interest in improving anything. The government’s budgeting in the last three years has been lazy, based on things like increasing the liquor tax. There is no effort to generate jobs or industrialise other parts of Karnataka.
And The Ugly!
Karnataka including Mysuru was a great and prosperous state before independence but successive chief ministers have destroyed it in the name of governing.
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