Maun Mohan, Now Maun Modi? Kejriwal's open letter to PM

[email protected] (Arvind Kejriwal)
September 20, 2014

Dear Prime Minister,

Your government has completed nearly four months in office now and its performance is being widely discussed. People have mixed feelings.

They believe that you are an excellent orator. But your own partymen and ministers are doing exactly the opposite of what you speak, and when they do that, you remain silent. This has perplexed many people.

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For instance, your speech on Independence Day impressed many. You said that we should shun communalism for the next decade, since communalism does not help anyone. People were happy to hear these words. But just a few days later an MP of your own party, Yogi Adityanath, delivered hate speeches.

Your partymen tried to spread hatred in the name of'love jihad'. People were surprised. How was it that your own partymen were not listening to you? People expected that you would admonish Yogi Adityanath and others in your party who indulged in spreading communal hatred. But you chose to remain silent, which disappointed Indians.

You spoke against UPA's corruption during Lok Sabha elections. It was one of your main campaign planks. You had promised a corruption-free India. Recently, you went to the extent of saying ” œNa khaunga, na khaane dunga.  (neither will i take bribe, nor will i allow anyone to take bribe). People were happy to hear that.

There was a feeling that from now on, the corrupt would be punished and honest people would be rewarded. But when your health minister Harsh Vardhan removed a very honest officer, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, from the post of chief vigilance officer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for no reason, it was a major disappointment.

The entire country knows how Chaturvedi has been fighting against corruption. His work has been appreciated by none less than the president of India and a parliamentary standing committee. People expected your government to reward such people.

Both media and public have severely criticised Chaturvedi's removal. Everyone expected that you would intervene and get Chaturvedi reinstated as CVO of AIIMS. But when you remained silent on this issue also, people were further disappointed.

A few days back, the Union home ministry issued a notification severely curtailing the powers of Delhi's anti-corruption branch (ACB), stripping it of the power to probe central government employees for bribery. This has turned it into a completely ineffective body. How can you remove corruption by curtailing the powers of ACB? To remove corruption, you need to provide ACB with adequate resources, effective powers and honest manpower.

People had hoped that since you have always been speaking so strongly against corruption, you would certainly reprimand your home minister and ask him to withdraw this notification. But you remained silent on such a critical matter also.

There were strong rumours that the son of one of your ministers accepted bribes for transfers and postings. When you came to know about it, you apparently called the father and son and scolded them. People felt so good when they heard this, though your office issued a statement on August 27 calling such reports as malicious and denied any such incident. My humble request is that next time, if any minister's son accepts a bribe, kindly hand him over to the police in addition to scolding him.

A vice-president of Delhi BJP was caught on camera offering Rs 4 crore to an Aam Aadmi Party MLA to defect. BJP's Delhi unit has been trying its best to form a government dishonestly. People are desperately hoping that you will stop your Delhi unit from doing this. But you have again preferred to remain silent.

The Supreme Court recently observed that those leaders facing serious criminal charges should not be made ministers. But at least 13 of your ministers face such charges, including murder and bribery. People hoped that you will immediately remove them, yet again you remained silent.

You had repeatedly accused PM Manmohan Singh of inaction when our soldiers on the Pakistan border were being beheaded and when the Chinese were violating our borders. People liked your speeches which matched with their patriotic feelings whenever you raised this issue.

But Pakistan and China are violating Indian borders with greater frequency since you took over. China's attitude is even stranger. At a time when you are according such a warm welcome to their visiting president, they entered deep into our territory. So, people are wondering whether there are any compulsions that first Manmohan Singh and now you can't take those effective steps which you had been demanding all along?

During elections you had promised'achche din'. The country has been waiting since 65 years for'achche din'. However, it is becoming extremely difficult for the middle class and poor people, who voted for you, to make two ends meet due to sharp price rise. You have all the power now. You have full majority in Parliament. People can live without'achche din' for some more time. But we sincerely urge you to do something to contain prices and provide relief to people from inflation.

Mr Prime Minister, you have been given a historic chance. There are huge expectations from you. However, bypoll results show that people are slowly losing hope. We hope you will not let this historic opportunity slip.

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News Network
April 5,2024

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Bengaluru: A striking feature in the candidates list for the April 26 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka is the presence of members of Janata Dal (Secular)'s first family.

Former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy, son-in-law C N Manjunath and grandson Prajwal Revanna are all in the fray.

While state JD(S) chief and former Chief Minister H D Kumararaswamy is contesting from Mandya, Prajwal Revanna is seeking reelection from Hassan.

However, Manjunath, an eminent cardiologist, is contesting from Bangalore Rural on a BJP ticket, as per the arrangement between the alliance partners.

With the entry of cardiologist Manjunath into the poll arena, at least nine members of Gowda's immediate family are or have been in electoral politics.

Gowda is a Member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, while Kumaraswamy is an MLA from Channapatna, which comes under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency.

Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha had represented Ramanagara as MLA in the previous assembly, and Nikhil, who is the JD(S) youth wing leader, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya and 2023 assembly polls from Ramanagara.

Gowda's elder son and former Minister H D Revanna -- father of Prajwal -- is MLA from Holenarsipura, his wife Bhavani Revanna was a member of the Hassan Zilla Panchayat. Their other son, Suraj, is an MLC.

The Gowda family currently has its representation in all the four major houses of public representatives- Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.

This will be for the second consecutive time in the Lok Sabha elections, when three members from Gowda's family are in the fray from constituencies of the old-Mysore region (south Karnataka), which is considered to be the party's stronghold, because of the dominance of the Vokkaliga community here, to which they belong to.

Gowda (Tumkur), Prajwal Revanna (Hassan), and Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil (Mandya) had contested the Lok Sabha poll in 2019, but only Revanna emerged victorious. In fact, he was among the only two candidates from the then ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance, who won; the other being D K Suresh of Congress from Bangalore Rural.

As part of the seat-sharing deal in this Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, the BJP would contest in 25 constituencies and the JD(S) in the remaining three -- Mandya, Hassan and Kolar. JD(S) has fielded M Mallesh Babu from Kolar.

In the 2023 assembly polls, three members of the Gowda family had contested - Kumaraswamy (Channapatna), H D Revanna (Holenarasipur), and Nikhil Kumaraswamy (Ramanagara). In the 2018 assembly polls, both Kumaraswamy and Revanna had won.

Kumaraswamy, who had then won from two seats - Ramanagara and Channapatna - vacated Ramanagara, which his wife Anita Kumaraswamy subsequently won in the bypolls.

According to some political observers, the perception in some quarters about JD(S) being too family-centric is one of its major drawbacks.

James Manor, University of London professor, who has been a keen observer of Karnataka's politics, during a webinar ahead of assembly polls last year had said, family-centred politics is causing discontent and leading to desertion. 'JD(S) suffers from over-centralisation and dictatorial leadership.'

However, Kumaraswamy has time and again defended family members contesting polls stating that , '....our family members will contest where we don't have a capable candidate, to protect the interest of our party and its workers.'

However, the JD(S)'s dynastic party image has always been used by its political opponents to target it.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar, had a dig at Gowda for fielding his son, grandson, and son-in-law, and asked 'Were there no other candidates (in JD(S))?'

'None of them is going to win...JD(S) is a party that has lost strength. If it is really strong, why did they make their son-in-law contest on a BJP ticket?' he said.

Some political analysts held the view that JD(S)' inability to grow beyond the Vokkaliga dominated old-Mysore region -- other than certain select pockets of north Karnataka -- is seen as among its other key drawbacks.

Speculations are already rife in JD(S) circles that Nikhil is most likely to be the party candidate from Channaptna assembly segment, in case Kumaraswamy wins in Mandya.

Ahead of assembly polls last year, differences in the Gowda family had come out in the open with H D Revanna's wife Bhavani wanting to contest from Hassan, but Kumaraswamy had opposed it and finally gave the ticket. 

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News Network
April 13,2024

Mangaluru, Apr 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to campaign for the upcoming and much awaited Lok Sabha election in coastal Karnataka by holding a mega roadshow in Mangaluru. 

Meanwhile, the organisers have announced a slight delay in the commencement of Modi's scheduled roadshow on April 14 in Mangaluru.

Addressing the media BJP principal secretary and Karnataka MLA V Sunil Kumar said: Originally the roadshow was scheduled to begin at 5 pm., but it will start at 7:30 pm."

As planned, the Roadshow will kick off from Narayan Guru Circle, where Prime Minister Modi will pay floral tribute to Sri Narayan Guru idol. From there, the Roadshow will proceed and conclude at Navabharat Circle. 

Mr Kumar urged people traveling to Mangaluru to see Mr Modi's visit by 7 p.m. and stand behind the barricades. The roadshow is estimated to conclude at 8:30 pm.

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News Network
April 11,2024

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BJP MLA Arabail Shivaram Hebbar’s son Vivek Hebbar on Thursday, 11 April, joined the Congress party along with his supporters at Banavasi in Uttara Kannada district.

After quitting the BJP, Vivek Hebbar joined the party in the presence of state Congress vice president and former MLC Ivan D’Souza and other local party leaders.

Speculations have been rife about his father Shivaram Hebbar, an MLA from the Yellapur Assembly segment, also planning to join the Congress, ever since he did not turn up for voting during the polls to four seats of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka held on 27 February.

The senior Hebbar’s absence from voting, despite a party whip, had caused embarrassment to the BJP. He had, however, later attributed his absence to poor health.

The BJP had also issued notice to him, which he responded to.

Shivaram Hebbar had recently met Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar but claimed that the meeting was about water issues in his Assembly segment.

The senior BJP leader was earlier with the Congress. He was among 17 Congress-JD(S) legislators, who had quit from their parties, which ultimately led to the collapse of the then HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July 2019.

Shivaram Hebbar had subsequently won the by-poll on a BJP ticket and served as a minister in the then government of the saffron party.

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