MYSURU: Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna, who has been in the eye of the storm for his outspoken rhetoric mainly against right-wing forces, on Friday said the “country deserves a better leader than Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
Krishna spoke to the media ahead of his second music concert at Suttur Mutt, after performing his maiden concert on the premises of Ganabharati Veene Seshanna Bhavan on Thursday.
Reacting to a query, Krishna, who recalled his opinion he had expressed ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections where he had also taken the name of then All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi along with Modi, said: “It is still relevant and yes the country deserves a better leader than Modi.” “Let’s put aside the debate on who becomes the prime minister but speak on the way the election is being portrayed as a presidential election (of western countries, where he or she will be directly elected). In reality, we elect members of parliament in the country, not the prime minister.”
Stating that he disagrees with a lot of policies initiated by Modi, Krishna cited the letter he had written to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2015 seeking his opinion on lynchings. However, there was no reply yet to the same, he added.
Holding the present dispensation at the Centre responsible for doing nothing to check such incidents, Krishna said the increase in trolling of people who express their views holds a mirror to the matter.