Haradanahalli Deve Gowda Kumaraswamy, 58, busy dealing with the 20-plus national leaders who came for his inauguration, took time out to speak to TOI on the challenges ahead. Excerpts from his first, exclusive interview as chief minister.
Congratulations, Mr Kumaraswamy. What are your priorities as CM?
My top priority is addressing issues pertaining to the farming sector. I will work towards ensuring that farmers do not face any crisis and live up to the confidence they have reposed in me. Next on my list is infrastructure development, especially Bengaluru. We need to expedite work instead of dragging it citing trivial issues. We will focus on employment generation, women empowerment, health and education.
Your oath-taking ceremony was successfully marketed as the beginning of a new chapter in national politics…
Of course it is. It is special as over 20 national leaders, including chief ministers and ministers, attended it. Can you tell me one such ceremony attended by so many leaders from different parties and states? This is for the first time in history that such a thing has happened and it
signals the beginning of a new chapter in the country.
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There’s already criticism about your father micro-managing some administrative tasks. The bureaucratic chiefs are said to have held a meeting with him even before you became the CM and it is being described as backseat driving. How do you envisage your father’s role?
My father is the senior-most politician and his experience will definitely be utilized. But I want to make it clear to all that he will not micro-manage the administration. I am the CM and I will hold the reins. With regard to my father’s meeting with the chief secretary and police chiefs, it was a courtesy call by the latter. My father’s advice will be appreciated; I reiterate that he will not interfere. I have lived with the people and I too know their pulse, I am the people’s CM.
Will you continue with most of Siddaramaiah’s welfare schemes including the bhagyas, especially Anna Bhagya and Indira Canteen?
We will not discontinue any of the programmes started by the Siddaramaiah government. We will improvise on the same and start new programmes.
How will you handle issues concerning responsiveness and cooperation from the BJP-led Centre? The Congress government cited this as a major hurdle.
Fighting it out at the hustings is different and dealing with the Centre is different. I will not go for a confrontation with the Centre. We will convince them about our requirements and persuade them to act favourably. Karnataka is the second highest revenue generating state in the country and we hope the BJPled government appreciates the state’s contribution and takes decisions accordingly. The Centre should not show step-motherly treatment to Karnataka because they are not in power here and should not politicise everything.
Your party has the image of not being too interested in Bengaluru.
I agree with you that Bengaluru’s image and brand-building has taken a hit. But I want to assure all that Bengaluru’s growth and development will be top on my agenda. Does anyone remember when was the last time the head of a foreign country first landed in Bengaluru? That is the state of affairs we have reached. We need to revive Bengaluru’s glory and I will work on it.
Do you have a roadmap for it?
Of course, yes. I will not indulge in empty rhetoric. I understand the importance of Bengaluru on the world map. There are many foreign consulates in Bengaluru, we will coordinate with them actively and ensure inflow of more investments and will also source expertise with regard to city development. I will take the consuls general into confidence along with others and focus on bringing back Bengaluru’s glory. This is just one of the strategies. Though ours will be a coalition government, I will ensure that decisionmaking will be at an electrifying speed and transparent with regard to Bengaluru.
Bengaluru’s traffic jams are legendary. How will you solve these issues?
I know that traffic is the major problem nagging Bengalureans, I have also faced traffic snarls and know how an ordinary motorist feels when stuck in a traffic jam. But the reality is that we have neglected this issue and allowed Bengaluru to grow exponentially in a haphazard manner. We cannot demolish buildings to make roads. What we now require are smart solutions, we will have to come up with new building-related guidelines, parking related policies and think of constructing elevated roads on drains.
Corruption is a big issue in Bengaluru. There is a cosy relationship between builders and politicians. In fact, BJP is alleging that a builder-minister mafia has taken over Bengaluru…
No cartel or lobby will be allowed to take over anything. In fact, the institution of Lokayukta was strengthened during my earlier tenure and everyone knows what happened to it later. I will keep everything transparent, anyone can approach me directly if they find something is going horribly wrong in the system. As for BJP’s allegations, they are sure to come up with unfounded theories against our government in future.
Casteism has crept into the administration. Will your administration be different?
I have been observing over the last few years that the administration has been vitiated by caste-related politics. I will start reviewing the performance of different departments and take a call on a bureaucratic reshuffle in a month’s time. We will give importance to performance while choosing officials.
Will you appoint special advisers to guide you in specific areas of administration?
I will need advisers who are progressive in their thinking and do not become a pain point in administration. We do not want advisers who will bring a bad name to the government. Advisers and independent consultants will be appreciated in the fields of education and health. We will require people who can guide us on making heathcare easily accessible to the people and those who can come up with strategies that make school fees affordable to the common man. We do not want people to get trapped in debt because of rising medical and education costs.
Cauvery might be your biggest challenge as CM given that your base is also in the Cauvery basin. There are huge expectations of you in that region. How will you balance this delicate act of being a CM who has to follow SC orders, as you are from that area? Ditto with Mahadayi river dispute with Goa.
I have always believed that these issues should be sorted out through persuasion and negotiation with leaders from the neighbouring states. We cannot fight it depending on the law as emotions of the people are involved. I will start speaking to leaders from the neighbouring states and make all efforts to settle issues amicably.
But BJP leaders are of the strong view that the JD(S)-Congress combo will crumble soon because of infighting and incompatibility…
The BJP, obviously, will want us to fail. I had said earlier that I will be the person who will stall Narendra Modi-Amit Shah’s successful march and I have done it. Not just BJP, a lot of people are suspicious about our stability. Well, I know that running the coalition is not an easy task and there are limitations, but I am confident that we will succeed. We will overcome the initial teething problems quickly and work as a family. Moreover, I have learnt from the mistakes of the past, I will not waste time digging into the past and will deliver a stable government.
BJP leaders claim that you will be a victim of coalition compulsions and that you have already faltered in delivering your major promise of waiving farm loans within 24 hours of coming to power. A BJP leader has even called you a ‘lottery CM’.
I had promised loan waiver if our party comes to power with a full majority, but we haven’t. I would have signed on the loan waiver file immediately had we come to power on our own. The media has been claiming that I have done a volte-face on farm loan waiver, this is incorrect. My commitment to the farming community stands and I am only seeking more time as I have to take our coalition partner into confidence. We request the farming community leaders and farmers to have some patience. I will not go back on my word.
