Hegde Out To Prove His Relevance, With A Vengeance

Who is Hegde? He will be irrelevant once poll results start pouring in.

Thus spoke Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1984. Ramakrishna Hegde took up the challenge, resigned as Chief Minister to seek a fresh mandate, and in the 1985 assembly polls, proved his relevance by roaring back to power with 148 seats.

Fourteen years later, 72-year-old Hegde has set out to prove his relevance in Karnataka politics all over again. The challenger this time is best-friend-turned-worst-enemy H D Deve Gowda, who got Hegde expelled from the Janata Dal 18 months ago.

In 1984, Hegde had an established party and his 20-month rule to fall back upon. This time he has the fledgling Lok Shakti, a ten-month-old outfit and an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, a party which he has always opposed.

 

Hegde has set out on a mission like a man possessed. He starts at 9.30 am with wife Shakuntala in tow. His day ends in the wee hours of the morning, after addressing over a dozen meetings. Roadside meetings cut into his schedule but he takes them in his stride as people jostle to come close to him.

Anyone else in his shoes would have given up half-way, as the old Mysore area Gowdas heartland does not show much enthusiasm. But once he hits parts of Mysore, where Lingayats and backwards are present in large numbers, the crowds start pouring out. And as he crosses river Tunga to enter the Krishna basin in the north, Hegde comes alive. At 2 pm, people in Mudhol wait for him in thousands, braving the scorching sun to listen to him. At 2 am in Jamakhandi, over 20,000 wait for six hours.

Hegde has by then reached home territory where people, irrespective of caste or creed, adore the man, query him about the alliance with the BJP, on what should be done with the handful of leaders still left in the Janata Dal, raise slogans against Gowda, belittle S R Bommai and also ridicule own casteman Chief Minister J H Patel for betraying Hegde to align with Gowda. For the Lingayats, Hegde is the leader and none else counts.

Hegde believes he is set to prove his relevance in a more telling way than was the case in 1985. Business Standard spoke to him in northern Karnataka. What makes him click in this part of the state? He says: I myself do not know. But the people here have been supporting me throughout my career. I will never forget this and will never betray them.

He firmly believes his party will win five of the 10 seats it is contesting. The BJP-Lok Shakti combine would touch 18-20 seats, leaving the second slot to the Congress. The Janata Dal will become a party of Gowda & Sons with barely a couple of seats. The result will show how relevant Hegde is and how irrelevant are the autocrats in the Janata Dal, he says.

He makes it a point to get his anti-Janata Dal and anti-J H Patel regime stance endorsed by the crowd. He also reassures Muslims of their safety with him as an ally of the BJP.

On Article 370, Hegde says: I have also consulted legal pundits who believe it cannot be deleted. On the Ayodhya issue, he recalls the BJPs official stand that it would be resolved through consensus, legal and constitutional means, and says that it is the right stance. Anyway the issue is before the Supreme Court.

Hegde thinks the Sonia Gandhi factor has a limited impact as she is not just a foreigner by birth, but also a foreigner to the culture and values of the country. Hence he says it is unimaginable that the people would accept her as the symbol of the Congress.

Hegde is confident of the BJP forming the government in Delhi, based on a common minimum programme. In Karnataka, he says the J H Patel government will fall after the elections and the issue is whether to allow the BJP-Lok Shakti combine to form a government or seek fresh mandate. He personally favours fresh polls but wants to consult his MLAs as they still have two years of their term to go.