By V.S. Karnic, IANS
Bangalore, Aug 16 (IANS) At a time when floods have ravaged large parts of Karnataka, nearly half of its 300 legislators are set to go to China for almost 10 days for a ‘study tour’.
This will perhaps be the first time that so many legislators from a single state of one country will be in another country at the same time. The cost to the state government is officially pegged at little over Rs.150,000 per legislator.
The Karnataka assembly has 225 members and the legislative council 75.The legislators are to leave Bangalore in two batches, the first group Aug 22 and the second Aug 27 for a two-week trip. They have been invited by the People’s Congress of China under the India-China Friendship programme.
Beijing and Shanghai are among the cities they will visit to study the methods the Chinese government has followed in agriculture, urban development, health, education, infrastructure and cooperation among others.
Apparently realising the damage such a trip would do to the image of the government, all the ministers have decided against joining the group.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has washed his hands off the trip saying the speaker had arranged it.
Speaker Krishna has defended the trip, saying the legislators will be spending only what they are entitled to. Each legislator gets Rs.200,000 per annum for study tours within the country.
Instead of travelling within the country, the legislators will use the amount to visit China – that is the argument advanced by Krishna and the legislators undertaking the trip.
But the fact that the trip has not been called off in spite of extensive damage due to floods in 13 of the 28 districts in the state has not gone down well with the people.
They have been writing letters to the local dailies and also airing their views on television channels.
The criticism has had some impact as the number of legislators ready to go on the trip is dwindling.
From more than 250 at the beginning of this month, it has now come down to a little over 150. Legislature secretariat officials say some more may opt out and eventually the number may settle somewhere between 100 and 150.
The leaders of the three major political parties, ruling coalition partners Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the opposition Congress have taken a cue from the chief minister to adopt the stand that the matter is between the speaker and the legislators.
This issue has surfaced amid not only floods in parts of the state but also political uncertainty.
The JD-S and the BJP came to power in February 2006 on the understanding that they will split the chief ministership between themselves for the remaining 40 months of the assembly’s life.
Hence Kumaraswamy is to pass on the baton to the BJP on Oct 3.
Despite publicly saying that he will quit the chief minister’s post Oct 2, the BJP harbours a doubt as Kumaraswamy’s father, JD-S president and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, will have the last word on the issue.
And Deve Gowda is known to be a wily, 24X7 politician, who opposed his son’s joining hands with the “communal” BJP, suspended him and other JD-S legislators supporting him only to condone and support his actions a few months later.
The Congress is publicly stating that it is for president’s rule or fresh polls if the JD-S-BJP coalition collapses in October over the power transfer issue.
However, it would not mind another shot at an alliance with the JD-S to deny the chief ministership to the BJP in spite of Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy bringing down the Congress-JD-S coalition formation in February 2006.
(V S Karnic can be contacted at [email protected])