Ayya-Appa-Swamy Yeddy, Steady Go.

For the moment from Yeddy Steady go Karnataka politics has become about Ayya-Appa-Swamy

In his book the Pregnant King Dr.Devdutt Pattnaik asks a question

Who should rule the people those people who gambled their future? Or those people who could not keep their word?

Now that Karnataka electoral drama is history and the media has moved on to new pastures I wonder.  I do agree that in democracy we get the kind of government we deserve.  The society in itself does not allow us to stand still for a moment and think.

With the results pouring in, BJP had the largest numbers, so on so forth. The CM makes a statement like he is not answerable to the people who elected him, but he is answerable to congress… how more blatant can it gets?

One of my favourite things to do when I go to a town is throw a statement to the auto driver, it kind of triggers his thought process, and somewhere I get the pulse of the people. These pre-elections I was at Bangalore and as usual I asked the auto driver and here are the various excerpts;

“Amma, auto driveru passengerna baltkara madidru and kunithara, passenger hesaru noodi”  that translates to the press reports that the auto drivers molested the passengers just look at the names of the passengers, according to him the influx of northerners is creating a huge issue. He says they begin with touching the body, and the drivers in self defence hit back and it becomes a case of molestation. As for Uber drivers he says are mostly people from UP while OLA has more locals.

“Amma, BJP got Yogi Adityanath for campaigning does that tell you anything?” the driver this time was a Muslim.

“Hindutva is gaining” I replied.

“That is the impression that they are trying to create. But amma this is not Hindu Muslim or caste politics, Adityanath is here because Bangalore has a huge and increasing population of people from UP.”

“News keliyamma, Karnataka andre bare  benglurraa?” he asked, that is if you listen to the news Karnataka is only about Bangalore.. the rest of the state is called “Hyderabad Karnataka” or “Bombay Karnataka” like it was during the British period. Kodagu is not even referred to and coastal Karnataka is sometimes mentioned. This was again my Muslim driver. “ amma go to JPnagar it is like going to Bengal, 80% of the shops belong to Bengali’s they have Bengali staff, we feel like outsiders, as sarjjapur is filled with Hindiwallah”

Coming to think of it, yes, I guess we have to feel honoured that the news channels remembered that the state is Karnataka and not “Madras.” Also even if you want to talk of chunks then it is “Malnaad,” ‘Kodagau’ ‘Karavali’ and ‘Uttara Kannada.’

The languages of the state are Kannada, Konkani, Tulu, Kodagi, Byaari, Nawyati and Badaga.

Johnson another of the auto drivers came up with interesting options. He was saying that before elections the parties should give a clear cut manifesto.

“allamma, namm, krishi mantri yaaraag beku antha a muttala, Rahul Gandhi yak helbeku?” was his query. He wanted to know why Rahul Gandhi should decide our agriculture minister.

“amma he mundemakkalige, rule maadbeku, chunavane modale yaar yaar joteg malgtaarayanta…” I am not translating this verbatim as it is bordering profanity. Anyway he, his point was that the political party should give “point by point”

• What are their commitments to the people if they win.
• The time line of execution.
• If they do not get majority, which are the parties that they do not mind working with.

According to him, the citizens should display the promise list and keep a check on if they have been done or not. “patragaara baddinann makkalu heliddu kelabaradu.” Wow that did sound interesting.

Though I do dread the idea of having a hoarding that will show the check list. It might be a good idea to do so.

At the end of the day, what I did get was BJP is trying and succeeding creating the Hindu Muslim and the great caste divide in Karnataka so that the actual issues are not addressed. According to my auto driver Johnson, BJP needs Karnataka, in its kitty because of the dotcom finances. Like it needs Kerala in its kitty for the gulf money. Now that is something to ponder over.