Senior Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily tells Amit Agnihotri that the BJP’s polarisation strategy will not work in the southern state and neither the PM nor Hindutva poster-boy Yogi will be able to block his party’s return to power
M Veerappa Moily, Congress Lok Sabha member from Chikballapur in Karnataka, is a key player both in the state as well as in Parliament where he heads the crucial standing committee on finance. Ahead of the state elections in April, where the ruling Congress is pitched against an aggressive BJP, the veteran opens up in an exclusive interview. Excerpts:
How do you rate the Congress’s prospects in the coming Karnataka assembly elections?
I am confident that the Congress will come back to power. The party could win 150 of the 224 Assembly seats. Just eight months ago, we won the two assembly bypolls in Nanjangud and Gundlupet by big margins. Both were Lingayat community dominated areas.
What is the Congress’ message for the people?
Development is the face of the Siddaramaiah government. He has provided political, financial and social stability to the state in the past five years. We have been able to fulfil most of our poll promises.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be campaigning across the state and he too talks of development agenda. Can he swing Karnataka for the BJP?
Karnataka will reject Modi. His graph is coming down. We were about to win the Gujarat assembly polls last year but the last-minute changes in GST rates benefitted the BJP in urban areas. Then the saffron party lost two Lok Sabha and one assembly bypoll in Rajasthan. They, along with ally Akali Dal, lost in Punjab. The BJP plays divisive politics and it won’t work for them now.
But the BJP is also banking on another Hindutva poster boy — Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath — to win back Karnataka. Your comments...
Those days are gone. Yogi has messed up UP. This strategy will not cut much ice with the voters. Polarisation may have worked for the BJP in the north but such a strategy will not work in the south. Southern states have a different ethos. The BJP’s polarisation agenda will not be effective in Karnataka.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi too has launched the party’s campaign in Karnataka. How are the people responding?
Rahul’s popularity is rising. The campaign is being received well and will continue. His taking over has energised the party. He is now more aggressive and is making the PM nervous. His attacks over corruption at the Centre like the Rafale jet deal and the banking fraud are hitting the BJP. More and more people now want Rahul to play a prominent role in the 2019 national polls.
But could differences between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state unit chief G Parameshwara affect the party’s poll prospects?
There is no infighting in the Karnataka Congress worth mentioning. We are united and working together.
The Congress lost former Chief Minister SM Krishna to the BJP. Could he have an impact in the assembly polls?
He had no impact even when he was in the Congress and he had no impact in the two bypolls in which he campaigned for the BJP.
Coming back to Prime Minister Modi, you have reviewed his demonetisation decision as head of the parliamentary standing committee on finance. What are your views on the controversial move?
Demonetisation alone reduced the GDP by 2 per cent. The unorganised sector has lost 40 per cent jobs while job creation in general has also been hit. Further, note ban has adversely impacted the small traders. Due to government neglect, the agriculture sector growth too is down to 1.8 per cent.
And what are your views on the PM’s handling of the economy, which the Congress alleges is in a bad shape?
Prime Minister Modi has no pulse for the economy of the country. He introduced the disastrous demonetisation. The Punjab National Bank fraud has been happening for the past four years but he failed to take any action. The NPAs of banks have gone up but what he has done is take away the RBI’s autonomy. As a result the central bank has been demoralised. The PM could have managed the banks better but he did nothing. The same public sector banks could withstand the global meltdown of 2008.
How do you assess BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa’s projection as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate?
During Yeddyurappa’s rule, Lok Ayukta Justice Santosh Hedge had alleged huge corruption in allocation of mines. In fact, there was an incident where bribe was paid through a cheque. Many of those scams under his rule are still being probed by the Lok Ayukta and the Supreme Court. Yeddyurappa even went to jail for a few months. In fact, international media had branded Karnataka as the most corrupt state then. Sadanand Gowda and Jagdish Shettar succeeded Yeddyurappa but the BJP finally lost power in the 2013 polls largely over corruption charges. Yeddyurappa then split with the BJP and floated his own outfit, Karnataka Janata Paksha, which got just 4-5 seats.
The Congress could have been in power in 1983-84 when the Janata Dal came to power. Any comments?
Karnataka has been a traditionally Congress state. In ’83-’84, the Congress could not form a government despite having more seats than the Janata Dal. The Congress had won 89 seats and the JD had won 64. But Buta Singh as the central observer sabotaged my chances of becoming the CLP leader. As a result, I could not claim to form government and the JD came to power with the support of smaller parties under Chief Minister Rama Krishna Hegde.
Is the Janata Dal (Secular) a threat to the Congress?
The JD-S and BJP formed a government together under Chief Minister Kumaraswamy but it fell when JD-S did not allow the rotation of power to the BJP. Then Dharam Singh of the Congress became the Chief Minister. In 2008, BJP leader Yeddyurappa played the victim card. The Congress mismanaged the seats and could not win.
Finally, when are the changes coming to the grand old party?
Well, the process has already started and I am sure more will follow soon. The party needs to work like a well-oiled machinery and I am sure changes needed for it will be made at various levels. Rahul has made several changes in the recent past and I am sure he will take appropriate steps in the future. He led an aggressive campaign in Gujarat. However, unlike Gujarat, we have a solid organisation in Karnataka to take on the BJP.