Siddaramaiah pilloried for 'rowdy-speak' against Yeddyurappa
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Sep 25, 2017, 03.16 PM IST
BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is being pilloried for using “rowdy-speak” or the language used by street hoodlums in Bengaluru to describe what he called the BJP leaders’ lack of initiative in taking up state issues forcibly with the Centre.
During an interaction with the public as part of the Congress’ door-to-door campaign in Bengaluru in the run up to the state assembly elections in April-May 2018, Siddaramaiah said: “(BJP state president B S) Yeddyurappa and the other BJP leaders in this state don’t have the metre to talk to national leaders about Karnataka.” “Metre” is street-speak for gumption and also for brains.
BJP spokesperson S Suresh Kumar, taking serious umbrage at this usage by the CM, said: “This is not the kind of language that a CM should use against a former CM. It is the language of the underworld and no politician should use such terms. Also who is he to certify whether Yeddyurappa has metre or not, when he is unable to even expand his cabinet or decide appointments in his party without clearance from the High Command?”
Siddaramaiah, however, is not alone in making unparliamentary personal comments. Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa has been criticised for saying that the CM had become ‘a street beggar’ seeking votes. Siddaramaiah responded to this with: “Yes we are all street beggars in front of the people. This is a democracy and all of us have to beg for votes.”
Political analyst S Mahadeva Prakash pointed out that this trend of using derogatory language reflected the deterioration in the kind of politicians the country had thrown up. “In 1978, there was a bitter byelection for the Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha seat from where Indira Gandhi contested. Neither she, nor her opponent Veerendra Patil, nor chief campaigner George Fernandes ever made personal comments about each other. It was always issue-based,” he said. “Nobody needed to resort to ‘maut ka saudagar’ or ‘shehzade’ kind of comments to win elections.”
Prakash said the language used by politicians did affect the voting trends. “There are four classes of voters. Three of them vote on party, caste and money basis. The fourth, which controls the swing, votes based on the behaviour and language of candidates. The ‘tea-seller’ comment helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi get public support in 2014. The derogatory comment about the Congress candidate in the recent Gundlupet byelections by BJP MP Pratap Simha helped her win too,” he pointed out.
Younger politicians in all the three political parties in the fray in Karnataka say that coining of phrases and destroying reputations through them have become a common form of politicking, particularly due to the impact on social media. “Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been stuck with the image of Pappu and that has certainly helped BJP gain votes. The Congress is also retaliating now with personalised attacks on leaders as that is what sells on the social media. This is the new electioneering and it cannot be wished away,” a young politician who declined to be named, said.
During an interaction with the public as part of the Congress’ door-to-door campaign in Bengaluru in the run up to the state assembly elections in April-May 2018, Siddaramaiah said: “(BJP state president B S) Yeddyurappa and the other BJP leaders in this state don’t have the metre to talk to national leaders about Karnataka.” “Metre” is street-speak for gumption and also for brains.
BJP spokesperson S Suresh Kumar, taking serious umbrage at this usage by the CM, said: “This is not the kind of language that a CM should use against a former CM. It is the language of the underworld and no politician should use such terms. Also who is he to certify whether Yeddyurappa has metre or not, when he is unable to even expand his cabinet or decide appointments in his party without clearance from the High Command?”
Siddaramaiah, however, is not alone in making unparliamentary personal comments. Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa has been criticised for saying that the CM had become ‘a street beggar’ seeking votes. Siddaramaiah responded to this with: “Yes we are all street beggars in front of the people. This is a democracy and all of us have to beg for votes.”
Political analyst S Mahadeva Prakash pointed out that this trend of using derogatory language reflected the deterioration in the kind of politicians the country had thrown up. “In 1978, there was a bitter byelection for the Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha seat from where Indira Gandhi contested. Neither she, nor her opponent Veerendra Patil, nor chief campaigner George Fernandes ever made personal comments about each other. It was always issue-based,” he said. “Nobody needed to resort to ‘maut ka saudagar’ or ‘shehzade’ kind of comments to win elections.”
Prakash said the language used by politicians did affect the voting trends. “There are four classes of voters. Three of them vote on party, caste and money basis. The fourth, which controls the swing, votes based on the behaviour and language of candidates. The ‘tea-seller’ comment helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi get public support in 2014. The derogatory comment about the Congress candidate in the recent Gundlupet byelections by BJP MP Pratap Simha helped her win too,” he pointed out.
Younger politicians in all the three political parties in the fray in Karnataka say that coining of phrases and destroying reputations through them have become a common form of politicking, particularly due to the impact on social media. “Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been stuck with the image of Pappu and that has certainly helped BJP gain votes. The Congress is also retaliating now with personalised attacks on leaders as that is what sells on the social media. This is the new electioneering and it cannot be wished away,” a young politician who declined to be named, said.
