BENGALURU: BJP MLC Adagur Vishwanath painted a dour picture of how money has devoured the soul of Indian democracy and lamented the death of self-respect and simplicity that once defined politics.
Speaking to The New Indian Express ahead of his 79th birthday on Sunday, the former minister recalled his maiden victory in 1978 with deep emotion. “The then CM Devaraj Urs gave us Rs 20,000 each. My father added Rs 10,000. I spent another Rs 10,000-15,000. With just Rs 45,000, I won my first election as MLA. Today, it feels like a dream,” he said, his voice filled with a mix of pride and sorrow.
Vishwanath, who walked the dusty streets of Karnataka’s ‘Rice Bowl’ — KR Nagar seeking votes, remembered how ordinary citizens treated leaders with genuine respect and affection. “People would invite me into their homes and offer Rs 10 placed respectfully on a beetle leaf, and place their hand on my head and bless me. That warmth, that swabhiman - it is missing today,” he recalled.
The contrast he drew was stark and heartbreaking. “Even those working in plush offices, earning up to Rs 2 lakh per month, now ask ‘Where is our money?’ and sadly, they collect it too. The old self-respect has vanished,” he lamented.
What was once a people’s movement has transformed into a costly transaction, and contesting for an MLA seat today demands a staggering Rs 50 crore, he said.
That is the reason why so many MLAs in all three parties are real estate barons, he said.
The leader, author of many books including his autobiography ‘Halli Hakki’, had served as primary education and forest minister in the SM Krishna cabinet. That illustrious batch of MLAs elected in 1978, also had Speaker Ramesh Kumar and former minister TB Jayachandra. He said that the election those days was not so transactional and commercial. Stalwarts like Mallikarjun Kharge and Veerappa Moily hail from the even earlier 1972 batch, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah entered in 1983.
In 1978, Congress alone had 149 MLAs, most of whom had spent only Rs 30,000-50,000 to get elected as MLAs. “Over the years, the amounts paid to voters have only increased,” Vishwanath observed.
A man of many political journeys, Vishwanath served as MLA and state president of JDS before making a decisive move in 2019, quitting the party and joining the BJP -- a shift that contributed to the fall of the Kumaraswamy coalition government.