An innings well begun

The S. M. Krishna Government has steered clear of corruption and scandals, and the Chief Minister has become a role model... However, he has a formidable task ahead. An assessment by S. K. RAMOO.

IN a brief span of eight months, no Chief Minister of Karnataka created such an amicable impression on the people as has done Mr. S. M. Krishna. His fledgling Government has lived upto the hype it initially generated.

The Government has steered clear of corruption and scandals, including administrative misdemeanour. Mr. Krishna has acquired a scam-free public image and become a role model for his ministerial colleagues, some of whom are not known for their efficiency or administrative dynamism. A couple of them seem devious as they are not endowed with a clean image. He is beginning to assess the performance of his colleagues by reviewing the working of their departments. Compared to the administration of Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda and Mr. J. H. Patel, Mr. Krishna clearly scores over his predecessors and even his worst foes will not underrate his honest intentions to take the State forward to regain its past, prime position.

The Government has cashed in on the groundswell it generated in the recently-concluded taluk and zilla panchayat polls. As PCC(I) President, Mr. Krishna led the Congress(I) to a landslide victory and it has now been more resounding than the Assembly election triumph.

The outcome is a fitting reply to his political adversaries, who have accused him of being computer savvy and urban-oriented and of not caring enough for the welfare of the rural poor. That a large number of rural people have extended their support to the party in the panchayat polls is an ample demonstration of their faith in the Congress(I) Government delivering the goods.

Mr. Krishna is attempting to accelerate the State's all-round development with the instruments of Information Technology. He has displayed an uncommon zeal for introduction of computers on a largescale in government offices, making a beginning with the Secretariat. He is taking a leaf out of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu's book. The setting up of a dozen task forces for sectoral development shows a clear intention of the Government's keenness. A set of new policy statements is in the offing. Although the credit for proposing a Global Investors Meet, should go the Patel Government, it failed to initiate any follow-up action. The Krishna Government, realising its potentiality, conducted it in the glare of publicity to reap probable rich benefits. Several memoranda of understanding were signed with the domestic and overseas investors and they have come forward with project proposals exceeding Rs. 10,000 crores.

The Government also made a favourable impact on Bangaloreans, when it directed the civic body to resurface roads in the city which were in a state of neglect. The civic body became proactive, after the Chief Minister appointed Mr. K. Jairaj its Commissioner. It has lately collected an unprecedented revenue of over Rs. 80 crores, following the introduction of a self- assessment property tax scheme.

However, there are some sticky -patches. Although the Government subjected the top echelons of the bureaucracy to a careful shake- up, it failed to replace some senior officials under a cloud. The Pollution Control Board reeking in corruption is as an example. Although the Electricity Board has been given a new, grandiose nomenclature, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd., there is hardly any attitudinal change on the part of its engineers and personnel, most of whom continue to thrive on sleazy deals. Mr. Krishna has a formidable task of cleaning the Augean stables for making his government people-friendly. He has still a long way to go.

In politics, Mr. Krishna has become an object of envy in the eyes of his opponents. The BJP and two factions of the Janata Dal, decimated in last year's Assembly elections, have suffered a further erosion in their popular base in the panchayat polls. They are in disarray, discredited and demoralised and continue to lack public credibility. The State BJP, which emerged a poor second in the Assembly elections, is relegated to the fourth position now.

The results are a reiteration of the ground reality that it has yet to penetrate rural pockets. The poor showing by both the JD(U) and JD(S) is once again an indication that they have not regained the credibility they lost. Their dismal performance has prompted some of their leaders to articulate in public merger of the two factions for challenging the Congress(I) hegemony.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, a former Deputy Chief Minister and State president of the JD(S), who earlier vehemently opposed the merger, appears to have undergone a change of heart, as he recently spoke in favour of their reunification. The leaders of the factions have, however, to contend with both Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde and Mr. Deve Gowda, who have emerged as fierce political enemies and hence any move for rapprochement may not find favour with them.

In the Congress(I), several leaders were dismayed, when Mr. Krishna, as the State president, admitted into the party a group of defecting MLAs, even those whose names were included in FIRs in murder cases. It was difficult to fathom the political compulsions he faced.

The Congress(I) has a comfortable majority of its own in the Assembly and hence the State leadership should have exercised discretion before making admissions into the party fold.

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