Freshers seek berths in corporations

Even as the discontent among the leaders of the coalition partners — JD(S) and Congress — in the state government is looming large over the Budget presented by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, leaders of both the parties are lobbying for chairmanship of boards, corporations, commissions and authorities.

The leaders of both the parties are of the opinion that the chairmanship of the boards and corporations of the state government should be given to those who have never occupied any political post, despite having put in decades of service for the development of their respective party.

A JD(S) leader said, the chief minister should nominate the party leaders and workers to the boards and corporations as soon as possible as they have not got an opportunity to serve the people since almost two decades. “It has to be noted that the last full-fledged government of the Janata Parivar lost power on October 7, 1999, when J H Patel demitted office. During the coalition under Dharam Singh as chief minister, from May 28, 2004, to February 2, 2006, the party leaders and workers could not be accommodated due to various reasons. Again, when Kumaraswamy was chief minister from February 3, 2006, to October 8, 2007, the party leaders and workers did not get an opportunity,” he recalled.

He said the party high command should consider freshers to the posts as the elected representatives like MLAs and MLCs already enjoy enormous powers and have huge funds at their disposal. “Former mayors, ex-MLAs, ex-MLCs, ex-MPs, ex-ministers and ex-presidents of Zilla Panchayat should be kept away. An opportunity should be given to the dedicated and committed party workers, who strive for the progress of the party at various levels,” he said.

R Raghu, a BJP leader, said, there are four types of politicians.

“The first category is the dedicated party worker, who sincerely does any work given to him to perfection. The second, who has a strong support base among party workers and people, who mobilises people. The third are those who cannot give much of their time, but financially support the party. The fourth category politician is the beneficiary of the efforts and resources of the first three categories,” he said.

“When a political party hosts a national leader in a particular place, the first category workers plan the event and make all necessary arrangements. The second category workers mobilise people to show the strength of the party in the particular place and region. The third category workers pool money. The fourth category workers dress well, arrive only when the state and national level leaders land at the airport or the venue. They greet the leaders and receive them. They lead the leaders to the dais and become the centre of attraction throughout the function. They are the ones who bag political and government positions,” he explained.

For the boards and corporations specific to the region — Mysore Sugar Company Limited in Mandya, Command Area Development Authority (Cauvery basin), Mysuru Urban Development Authority, Mandya Urban Development Authority, Hassan Urban Development Authority, and Chamarajanagar Urban Development Authority — inevitably the leaders of the region and the respective district are appointed, said a Congress leader.

For the organisations that have their major operations in the region, like Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited, Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited, Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation Limited, Karnataka Exhibition Authority, and Zoo Authority of Karnataka, also, mostly leaders of the region, specifically Mysuru, are appointed. So, leaders of Mysuru district are usually at an advantage, he explained.

To the state-level boards, leaders from the region have hardly been nominated. Earlier, G T Devegowda had served as chairman of the Karnataka Housing Board, K Venkatesh was chairman of Bengaluru Development Authority, C Manjula of the BJP and Manjula Manasa of the Congress, both from Mysuru, were chairpersons of Karnataka State Commission for Women, K R Mohan Kumar was chairman of Dryland Development Board, and K R Mallikarjunappa and Asagodu Jayasimha were chairmen of Jungle Lodges and Resorts Corporation, the Congress leader recalls.

He said among the state-level boards and corporations, each district can get an average of three posts. So, the JD(S)-Congress coordination committee should ensure that the posts are uniformly distributed among the party cadres across the districts.

The Congress high command should ensure that the leaders, who have never been in a political or government post, get an opportunity now.