The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Political outfits can’t bank on only major groups’

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Saturday, Dec 01, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Political outfits can’t bank on only major groups’

Staff Reporter

Hegde implemented imaginative policies to address the rural majority

Bangalore: It would be nothing less than “political suicide” for a political party in the State to base its powers on either one of the dominant communities alone, because “the numbers will just not be enough,” said James Manor, V.K.R.V. Rao Chair Professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC).

Prof. Manor was delivering a lecture here on Friday on “The transformation of politics in Karnataka, 1972 to 1989,” based on his forthcoming book on the subject, co-authored by E. Raghavan, editor, Economic Times. When quizzed about the elections, Prof. Manor said, “If the Janata Dal (S) becomes too entrenched with the Vokkaligas, they will be associating themselves with no more than 11 per cent of the population, and likewise the BJP with no more than 14 per cent if they make Lingayats their vote base.”

The voting behaviour over the last 20 years had shown that “the non-dominant groups are independent minded, assertive and vote more often,” Prof. Manor pointed out.

‘Rainbow coalitions’

The historic transformation of politics in Karnataka, and the maturing of democracy in the State, owes much to “the imaginative machinations” of two Chief Ministers who served between 1972 and 1989, he said.

Under D. Devaraj Urs and Ramakrishna Hegde, democracy was “broadened, deepened and entrenched,” giving rise to what he called “rainbow coalitions,” Prof. Manor said.

He attributed the maturing of democracy in this period to three factors: the control which Lingayats and Vokkaligas exercised over State politics had been broken, broadening democracy; the dominance of the Congress was replaced by “a competitive party system, giving voters a real choice between plausible alternatives”; and the over-centralisation was abandoned when substantial powers were transferred to panchayats.

While Devaraj Urs implemented policies that ensured concrete benefits to less prosperous groups and ensured that the State was governed by “rainbow coalitions in which leaders from disadvantaged groups were given important posts,” Ramakrishna Hegde “implemented imaginative policies to address the rural majority, crucially, enabling them to begin governing themselves” through democratic decentralisation, he said.

It was the fourth Professor V.K.R.V. Rao Centenary Year public lecture, organised by ISEC.

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