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Industry wants a stable government in Karnataka

— PHOTO: G. P. SAMPATH KUMAR

SETTING THINGS RIGHT: S. M. Krishna, former Chief Minister and Congress leader, addressing a gathering during his election campaign in Bangalore recently.

The first phase of polling in the elections to the Karnataka Assembly was over on Saturday. There are two more phases before the Election Commission takes up counting of votes on May 25. That evening, the results will be out, and it will become clear whether Karnataka will have a stable government or not. More than the ordinary voters, industry and trade in the State want a stable government that can work to make Karnataka the favoured investment destination that it was no t long ago. But the opinion polls till date do not provide much hope. The pointers are once again to a hung Assembly, with some forecasts giving the Congress an edge and others the Bharatiya Janata Party the advantage.

The issues in focus may differ from region to region, but in the State capital, it is essentially the inadequate infrastructure and the traffic bottlenecks that have made life miserable for the Bangaloreans as well as visitors. Many people here credit former Chief Minister and Congress leader S. M. Krishna for whatever development that took place in the early part of this decade.

During the past three-and-a-half years, when the State had two coalition governments and a spell of President’s rule, not much development has taken place, except for the completion of the Bangalore International Airport and launch of work on the Metrorail project - both of which were on the planning boards earlier. But sections of trade as well as new migrants to the mushrooming metro feel that the plans and projects of the Krishna regime were inadequate and have not provided for the growth in recent years.

In a recent television debate on the polls, hosted by NDTV, Mr. Krishna, in a very un-political manner, owned responsibility for the inadequacies. He confessed that his government did not anticipate such a fast pace of growth and that is why the infrastructure proved inadequate over the years. But he and the Congress leaders here have built on the argument that it is only their party that can provide a stable leadership, sustained growth and revive the infrastructure projects that have slacked in the pace of implementation.

Industry sources here and the business visitors from other States want to first see a stable, preferably one-party government in office. They do not support the coalition arrangements in view of their recent experiences and the potential conflict of interests between coalition partners. If that is not possible, they would like to see a common minimum programme before the formation of such a government, and a coordination committee that can thrash out any problems that the government is unable to resolve. The feeling in industry is that none of the parties have really any economic or industry oriented agenda or manifesto. Agriculture is the flavour of the season, but all are agreed that this is rightly so. But at least after a government assumes office, they hope to have a pro-industry policy in place.

A running debate within industry relates to the tussle between IT and ITeS sectors, which had witnessed a phenomenal growth in Karnataka (especially in and around Bangalore), and the manufacturing sector. The popular perception is that the growth and the benefits from the IT sector have not filtered down to the people or the State, whereas in traditional industry, it could be more visible.

The crying need of the hour, it is obvious, is for planned growth at least in the future. Above all, Bangalore needs an integrated urban transportation system that can unify a multi-modal system of transport, and ultimately reduce the vehicle population on the roads to make them less congested.

Though there are no promises yet, industry and trade are visibly supporting the major political parties — some sections of them quite openly. It is the iron ore belt and the real estate sector that are said to be firmly behind various political parties and groups to protect and promote their own interests.

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