r2i forum

So we keep beating to death about Congress-I. Some folks keep saying BJP is better, better, better.

Now, we already know what happened when BJP came to power in Karnataka. Plain daylight rape of the natural resources and disregard for the laws, abuse of discretionary powers, bribery, corruption, etc. Even the BJP central head looked spineless against the guiles of WhyRuThereAppa and the Reddy Mining brothers.

Now, next, the son of the highest ranking tribal-origin minister of Chattisgarh, instead of uplifting the tribals, steals lands from them by hiding the fact that he's working for a private company. I feel sad that innocent tribals were cheated and goaded into selling their lands off for a pittance. He comes in an official mantri car, says he's the son of the minster and cooly works for the private company. Lands beloging to tribals can be sold only to tribals and so this guy, being a tribal origin, pretends to be a tribal buyer (sort of).

So folks, we got a taste of what BJP would be if and when it comes to power. Congress isnt any better - the crude warning to Anna Hazare that he would the "same treatment" if he wants to express his opinion under a democracy just about disgusts me while these jackasses were all looting big time. All politicians are same. No point in saying one is better than the other.

Better? I think so. But better does not mean good. It is relative. I support BJP only because I think Congress is worse than BJP. But both are bad, really bad. Anybody who says otherwise, in my opinion, is either naive or ignorant (sure everybody can have his/her opinion about who is better but neither one is good).

moneyIsNot_funny;395822 Now, we already know what happened when BJP came to power in Karnataka. Plain daylight rape of the natural resources and disregard for the laws, abuse of discretionary powers, bribery, corruption, etc. Even the BJP central head looked spineless against the guiles of WhyRuThereAppa and the Reddy Mining brothers.

First the negatives:

Yes, I would say Karnataka under BJP is a much better place than what Karnataka was under Congress. Has corruption disappeared from Karnataka? Absolutely not. It's one of India's most corrupt states, not just today, but also 5-10-15 years back. I can give more survey details if you wish. The good part is that Karnataka has a Lokayukta (unlike majority of Indian states), which is very potent & capable of bringing down corrupt ministers like Katta Subramanya Naidu. That's why you hear more news about Karnataka govt corruption. Santosh Hegde is the best Lokayukta in the country.

Also, in Karnataka prosecution orders against even a CM are granted, unlike let's say against Karunanidhi. There are court cases pending against many in the government, unlike Congress/UPA which blocks prosecution requests against Sonia Gandhi, Raja (Supreme Court slammed & opened the way) or Karunanidhi.

Because both Lokayukta & courts are seriously putting checks & balances, lot more news comes to the media about corruption. Corruption by BJP govt members in Karnataka is a shame and no second thoughts. But, a big BUT, there's hardly anything that a court appointed commission, like CAG report on Sonia's govt corruption in 2G, has been released. Only accusations and every Tom, Dick & Harrry can make any big amounts.

Regarding Reddy brothers: They have been in mining business for many years before 2008 when BJP came to power in Karnataka. Majority of their deals & Obalipuram mines etc. are in Andhra Pradesh. They actively funded Congress government led by YSR for years. Their majority of profits were obtained during Dharam Singh (Congress) rule as CM. Get the facts. In fact, they are losing money & going downhill during BJP government. Yes, there are cases against, them, but only the BJP aspect is hyped, but no one talks about how YSR allowed them to loot Andhra Pradesh's protected forest areas.

Now to the positives:

But have you ever looked at the positives of how BJP rule has made Karnataka better?

First e-governance: Karnataka has bagged the best e-governance state award, thanks to the fantastic effort by BJP. Here are some details I had posted earlier.

KirKS;391432Political transparency is an absolute must if we have to get rid of corruption, or at least slow it.

Today, I came across this amazing e-governance portal setup in Karnataka.

http://stg2.kar.nic.in/gpportal/

After spending a few minutes, I was more impressed at the level of effort put in by NIC and government of Karnataka to collect the raw data, process and present in a simple format. This portal is publishing online, in mostly Kannada but with some English, balance sheet level details of 31566 villages of the state! I actually went through every district, to randomly check a few dozen villages myself as I couldn't believe that 31566 village data could be online.. that too in India!

Here is the best feature I found.. you can drill to a village level and check the property tax amount for a property/survey number. WOW! Now that's a transparency level I hadn't heard before in India. Yes, there have been many e-governance projects in India, but I personally never used any to drill down to a single property tax amount level amongst every single village of a state! Even if you take on the lower side, 100 properties per village, we are talking about over 3.16 million property records in here.

You can also find the mobile numbers of clerks, bill collectors or secretaries of 31566 villages. There's a lot more info out there.

This portal is by no means a fully functional one with everything they have promised. There's still a long way to go. I also understand that maintaining this portal will be a monumental challenge considering Indian bureaucracy, but I applaud Karnataka government for putting a top class, transparent, e-governance portal out there, which has now won India's top prize from GoI.

At least they have shown most Indians a way, which can be replicated to bring transparency into the system. Political transparency is the first step in eradicating corruption.

Second Law & Order: Keep aside the odd incidents being hyped by the media.

None other than UPA's big name, Pranab presented Karnataka CM the 'fastest mover' in law & order award. What does that tell you? The state is making the best improvement in law & order amongst all states in India.



Third, Investment:
The Global Investors Meet of 2010, brought the maximum MoUs in the history of Karnataka, and one of the biggest in the history of India by any state. Nearly 4.5 lakh crores worth of MoUs promising nearly a million new jobs in the most needed rural parts of the states.

http://www.karnataka.com/govt/gim

Of course, executing them is another challenge, but the state had never seen this level of interest by big industrialists in its history, even with an IT hub in place.

In fact, the image among investment community is so good, that US-India Business Council president announced: "Karnataka, Gujarat 'role model states' for investment"

Fourth: Turning loss making govt enterprises into profitability:
Do you know that under BJP, Karnataka has one of the best public transport initiatives? In fact, BMTC & KSRTC have both made profits, a very rare thing among mass transit systems in India. Both were making huge losses under Congress regimes.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/169931/bmtc-ksrtc-net-profit-rs.html

I can go on.. where things really matter, like law & order, e-governance, turning enterprises to profitability, bringing in large scale investment to the state, building infrastructure, BJP has performed exceedingly well in Karnataka.

No wonder Congress and its pet media have unleashed a vicious campaign against BJP. Did any of the media outlets told you the reality of Congress in Karnataka since BJP came to power? They have lost Lok Sabha badly, panchayat polls badly and even BBMP polls incredibly badly.

Here's the icing on the cake. Out of 18 bye-polls to assembly that have taken place in Karnataka since 2008, Congress has lost 17! The latest one with deposit being lost. That's how much people have been trusting BJP in spite of systematic negative campaign 24*7 :)

Kirks,

While your views might be different, for me, the notion that "Hey, I will do some governance stuff, depending on the political realities and the need to showcase an example so that we can come to power in the center. You common people should just look only at that and dont bother with the fact that we would still plunder the resources and still mint a lot of money through corruption - you folks dont look at that, ok?" doesnt sit well with me. Its never a defence and we as a public need to demand and expect better than that. Till we learn to do that "just like in the US", our politicians would all be the same and still bribe and corrupt their skins out. I thikn we need to do better than this.

In case the link wasnt really apparent in the OP, here it is:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chhattisgarh-ministers-son-buys-farmland-for-Videocon/articleshow/8956906.cms

moneyIsNot_funny;395855In case the link wasnt really apparent in the OP, here it is:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chhattisgarh-ministers-son-buys-farmland-for-Videocon/articleshow/8956906.cms

If you ask if Karnataka is a jewel in BJP's crown, answer may be No. But in relative term, they are way bettr than previous Congress's Govts. Unlike Congress, any investigation against any level of party members including CM's were not covered up or stonewalled by the party. I would give credit to them for that. Also look at other states where BJP/NDA are in power. Gujarat,Bihar and MP are good examples

Anees;395989If you ask if Karnataka is a jewel in BJP's crown, answer may be No. But in relative term, they are way bettr than previous Congress's Govts. Unlike Congress, any investigation against any level of party members including CM's were not covered up or stonewalled by the party. I would give credit to them for that. Also look at other states where BJP/NDA are in power. Gujarat,Bihar and MP are good examples

Well said Anees. If one gets news from NDTV kind of sources, all they hears is Reddy/Yedyurappa/mining kind of negatives only. I was surprised a few months back that even the most astute politics observers in India on social media, were having very little clue on why BJP is getting stronger in Karnataka, and why Congress has lost 17 out of 18 bye-elections since 2008, in spite of so much noise against BJP.

For those who ask what are the achievements of BJP in Karnataka, here is an exhaustive list from the horse's mouth itself.

A 96 page release of the Three Years of Bountiful Development since BJP came to power:
http://yeddyurappa.in/news-and-events/three-years-of-bountiful-development/

Excerpts: Watch the highlights which most media outlets never bother to report. Even keeping aside populist schemes that most state governments do, the number of 'first state' or 'best in the category awards' are very impressive! :))

This is a bird’s eye view of the Government’s overall performance in the last three years. The State has set several new records in various sectors.

First State to unveil `Vision 2020’ for comprehensive development and thereby provide a Model for the entire country.

First State in the country to present a separate Agriculture Budget.

Farmers extended short-term loans from co-operative societies and commercial banks at the lowest interest rate of 1%.

Weavers and fishermen continue to get loans at the rate of 3% interest.
[LIST]

A special legislature session held to discuss issues of Agriculture and Rural Development.

A State-Level Knowledge Commission set up.

Established `Organic Farming Mission’ for reducing dependence on chemical fertilisers.

Farmers’ study visit to China and Israel to experience and understand latest agricultural practices.

Bhagyalakshmi Scheme’s maturity value enhanced to Rs.1 lakh.

Manthana – A brain storming session held for discussing development issues with officials and people’s representatives.

‘Bangalore One’ Centers adjudged the best in the country in terms of scope of services and popularity with the people.

First State to bring out the Semi-Conductor Policy.

First State to implement `Bhoochetana’ Scheme for increasing agricultural productivity by adopting scientific cultivation practices in dry lands.

Introduced `Janaspandana’ for on-the-spot redressal of the grievances of the people-an initiative to take the Government to the door steps of the people.

Appreciation for organising `Kaushalya’ (Skills Development) training programmes and Udyog Melas (Job Fairs) to provide jobs and job training to the unemployed youth.

Karnataka is in the forefront among the States which have adopted e-Tendering.

First State to introduce e-payments since 2009.

[/LIST]

Recognition from all Corners

Karnataka has secured the first prize for Panchayat Empowerment & Accountability.

Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga districts have received National awards for successful implementation of NREG Programme.

Karnataka stood second in overall implementation of PMGSY in the country. (By far the most significant achievement - Read more here: By mid 2010, the Top three performing states of 20-point programme are all BJP ruled and of course Gujarat comes first followed by Karnataka! http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=12463


KSRTC and other public Transport Corporations have received more than 30 National and International Awards during the last 3 years.

KSRTC’s online seat reservation system, AWTAR, has bagged the 2009 Golden Peacock Award.

KSRTC received Award from Government of India for IT services.

Karnataka is the first State to completely introduce electronic ticketing system in the Public Transport buses and has received the Union Urban Development Ministry’s Award for Excellence.

National recognition to the State’s design and fabrication of low-floor buses for urban transport under JNURM Scheme.

Union Urban Development Ministry’s 2009 Award for Excellence for introduction of completely transparent electronic recruitment system for drivers.

Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award for use of alternative fuels like bio-diesel, ethanol and blended diesel in over 2,000 buses.

Prime Minister’s Civil Service Excellence Award in 2009.

KUIDFC received the National Urban Water Award 2009 under Public-Private-Partnership category in five districts.

National Water Award for the `Sujala’ watershed programme.

National e-governance Award for introducing Panchatantra software.

Three Awards from ‘National Urban Water supply Awards 2009’ for effective management of water supply by Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Chitradurga and Kundapura towns.

5 cities of Karnataka received Central Government’s ‘Swachata Award’. Mysore city is in second position (in India).

Sujala watershed programme is implemented in 6 districts where dry land cultivation is in practice. 3 National awards for this programme.

Best Bio-diversity Award for the State Bio-diversity Board from the National Bio-diversity Board.

International UITP-ITF Award for best innovation in Public Transport.

Best Practices Award 2010 for pass system and other public schemes.

In the area of Financial Reforms, Bangalore Water Board got First prize from Central Urban Development department’s ‘National Urban Water Awards’.

India Tech Excellence Award for introducing IT in Urban Administration. State got 2nd prize.

4 Local bodies of the State received ‘Green Leaf Award’ for effective urban waste management.

Information Department received 2nd prize for ‘Bidiri ware tabloo’ in the Republic Day Parade 2010.

4 urban local bodies got ‘Icon SWM-2009’ Awards.

Karnataka is one of the few states in the country to adopt e-Tendering and e-Procurement. Conferred with the National Award along with “Asia Award” for effective implementation.

National Efficiency Award’ for Devaraja Urs Backward Classes Corporation along with the Chief Minister’s Annual Ratna Award.

In my view, Yedyurappa is the second most harassed CM in India after Narendra Modi. He is constantly being put in negative light by politicians, UPA govt and media. I can show at least 15-20 CMs of India who have similar allegations, but for obvious reasons, allegations against him are always given national media slots. I would doubt if even the most astute political observers would have heard 25% of the awards Karnataka has bagged over the past 3 years.

So yes.. those who get both negative and positive news about BJP's performance in Karnataka, can easily say that the past 3 years have been really good ones in a long number of years, even factoring in the ugly face of dissidence & charges. I can't recall over the past 20 years, even factoring in SM Krishna's relatively well governed period, so many brand new initiatives and so many national & international awards.

No, it may not. Now that Vajpayee is not there, a binding force is absent. Pramod Mahajan would have equally emphatic leadership qualities, but he is no more. The resulting government could be chaotic, fractured and direction-less. I am not sure who emerge as the ultimate leader amongst the lot but it will neither be Advani, nor Jaitley. Perhaps Modi or Sushma or somebody entirely different. Corruption could be equally bad in a BJP rule. After all, the bureaucracy will not change with the government. But then, a person talking anti-congress does not mean he is Pro-BJP, does it?

Anees;395989... But in relative term...

I thought a thief is thief, it does not matter if he stole 100 Cr or 1000 cr. As a percentage of AUM (assets under management) or percentage of revenue, Raja might be relatively smaller thief than Karnataka CM :).

Anees;395989Bihar and MP are good examples

Last time I checked BJP does not rule Bihar & MP is still part of BIMARU :).

OP, this thread will not get enough post as compare to 'Sins of Congress' or 'MMS weakest PM' thread. BJP was better than most of political parties before they tasted power of Delhi. After that they are trying their best to become congress like party and they are catchingup very fast.

Most of their leadership is confused after two successive failure in Lok Sabha election. They can't figure out if hard-core nationalist (Modi/Uma Bharti) or moderate view (Praising Jinnah, delivering terrorist, Lahore Summit) will give them power to Delhi.

BJP supporter here praise Modi, but he was not allowed to campaign in Bihar state election :). How this party is going to project him as PM candidate :)?

KirKS;396001why BJP is getting stronger in Karnataka, and why Congress has lost 17 out of 18 bye-elections since 2008

Story is exactly opposite in UP and Delhi.