Rajashekara Reddy, the best, Yeddyurappa, the next best!
And the so Chief Ministers!
Narendra Modi, Mayawati and Karunanidhi in a class of their own
The recent state Assembly elections produced some surprises. Sheila Dixit, the Delhi Chief Minister won for the third time. This was a great positive side of the Indian politics. People do recognise good administration. This is a welcome feature of Indian democracy.
Likewise, in Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the incumbent Chief Ministers came back to power. This is also a good sign. The Opposition led by Jogi and the veterans like Arjun Singh, Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and the Scindia family had so much muscle and yet they couldn’t beat the humble-looking BJP wallahs. Here again, it is the track record that impressed the voters.
So, this time at any rate there is something to say and feel confident about our maturing democracy. Even in Rajasthan where we were recently we were impressed by the track record of Vasundararaje Scindia but there, as in the Congress ruled states, it is the party factions, in this case the BJP inner party quarrels, led by Jaswant Singh and others that undid her legacy. Also, the Gujjar and Meena caste struggles undid the job.
Anyway, there are other, much more worthy mentions here. In Andra Pradesh, by all accounts, it is Dr.Rajashekara Reddy whose government is seen as the best performing state. One can interpret this success story from many points of view. One is sheer performance on many fronts. Be it the women empowerment schemes or the agriculture schemes or the urban development schemes there is an all-round growth.
The state is also very backward in some aspects, there are backward areas and regions, there are also developed regions, and there is also the politics in the state. The state Congress itself has formidable leaders of stature. In the TDP there is the highly competent Chandrababu Naidu who can at any time give a fight even as the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, now he is caught in a set of circumstances that don’t leave him to emerge on the national level.
Otherwise, we would even like to put it this way. It is a measure of success for Dr.Reddy for he had to perform in the background of what Chandrababu Naidu did in lifting the state out of nowhere and taking to the international forum and AP became the measuring rod for much of the modern day economic and technological developments in the world.
IT industry in AP is a Naidu magical touch!
Now, for other states, let us just notice the peculiarity of some Chief Ministers and the states. In UP, there is Mayawati. No one can she is not a star. She is but she is also a negative portent. What is the point of playing the caste card for ever?
Anyway she is taken seriously for she poses a threat to Delhi throne!
As for Narendra Modi, he is a success story on the economic development front. So, he scores here where others fail or falter.
But his socio-cultural and civilisation front is a disaster and a shame for India. So, this black mark can’t be easily erased. Modi, with all his otherwise good qualities, has to live down the shame of causing so much harm to India’s secular polity and good name.
Now the one with a long tenure in the Chief Ministerial gaddy is the DMK chief.
If the long years in office are the only criteria then he is a success.
But the man is a disaster from all other points of view. In terms of the set of values with which he would be associated, he is a modern day avatar of so many undesirable rulers.
The state of Tamil Nadu was once a leader for the entire country. Today, it is associated with all that is undesirable with out politics. His party didn’t get a majority. Yet he manages to form the government and keep the Congress at a safe distance! Manmohan and Sonia tremble before him! Is this not an achievement? High corruption, cynical governance and highly eroding public values.
As for others, the Communist Chief Ministers, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and V.S.Achudanandan, are the greatest disasters.
In Bengal, it is both comedy and tragedy! In Kerala, no less!
There are others, the new comers who are very promising.
In Karnataka we see a sea-change. The tough talking Deve Gowda is humbled by the equally more humble Yeddyurappa.
Even where the great Ramakrishna Hegde couldn’t beat Deve Gowda, the very pure-hearted Yeddyurappa, unbelievably was voted back to power by the people for the simple reason the public perceived he was wronged.
We admire Yeddyurappa for his open-mindedness and he seems to be doing well up to this day.
His sending the farmers to China on a farm tour is something every other state must emulate.
In Bihar, Nitish Kumar is a great success. In Punjab and Haryana, there are okey. In Maharashtra, we see new issues, unprecedented and yet it is state that is likely to be in the news for some more time for the right and the wrong reasons. At least, the Thackeray’s can be expected to lie low for some time!
Image Source: ysrreddymiss.blogspot.com