Once an outcast at 24, Akbar Road, Energy Minister, D.K. Shivakumar, is now on two important AICC committees and speaks freely on national politics, demonetisation and the Modi government.
But his ambition to become president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee has still not been realised. However, claiming that that he was not in the race for the post, the minister told the Deccan Chronicle in an interview that all he wanted was to bring the Congress back to power in the state in the 2018 assembly poll. Excerpts :
What is the status of the Congress in Karnataka? Is it stronger than the Congress at the national level?
The BJP has never won polls in Delhi, Bihar and Punjab. It tried very hard to make a dent in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, but did not succeed. In Karnataka, people have already tasted BJP rule. If they recall what happened between 2008 and 2013, I am sure they will reject it here too.
You say the Congress is strong in Karnataka. But stalwarts like S.M. Krishna and Kumar Bangarappa are leaving it.
I do not want to comment on S.M. Krishna because he was my political mentor. I can only say that the decision he has taken is wrong.
Other leaders too are leaving.
They are the rejected lot. Those who have no base in the state will leave the party as they have no future in it. As for the BJP wooing our leaders, we don't intend to disclose how we plan to play our cards so early.
You claim JD (S) leader, H.D. Kumaraswamy is a rival, but your party has gone in for a secret pact with him for the coming by-polls.
I am not involved in that process. I am not sure what the JD(S) strategy is. We have however, decided to field our candidates.
AICC general secretary Digvjay Singh was accused of messing up in Goa after the polls. Many senior leaders and ministers are upset with his style of functioning as the Karnataka in charge too.
Who says so? He is a very pragmatic man, who ran one of the biggest states for 10 long years . He is a master strategist. But as he reined in some dissidents, they naturally speak against him.
But he failed in Goa.
I know what happened in Goa. He had a good strategy, but the BJP managed to use money bags to grab power.
What is your take on the state budget presented by the CM?
Chief minister Siddaramaiah has done the best with the limited resources at his disposal. We lost a large share of revenue during demonetisation but the debts of the previous government were brought under control.
As cabinet minister you need to defend the Chief Minister, but haven't the Vokkaligas been ignored in the budget?
Do you think resources are allocated based on caste? They are not. Vokkaligas are traditionally a farming community and benefit from Krushi Bhagya and the many schemes for agriculture, water resources, energy and RDPR. There is no heartburn as Rs 10,000 crore has been allotted for irrigation and nearly Rs 2000 crore of the allocation for the energy department too will go to farmers. In fact, almost 30 per cent of the state's budget is for farmers. But opposition parties spread such canards.
The aspirations of youth seem to have been ignored.
The youth and sports department has come out with a lot of programmes like developing stadia in every gram panchayat and we have decided to give laptops to those who join professional courses. We have filled posts in the energy, transport and other departments and given employment to thousands of youth.
While growth in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors has slowed down considerably, the budget has not bothered to address this.
The slow growth can be attributed to the drought. Although the IT sector has slowed down a bit, we are still ahead of Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. The issue is perhaps about traffic and other problems in Bengaluru. We could not phase out 10 to 15-year- old vehicles as whenever we plan anything, we meet with a lot of opposition. For instance, we planned to widen roads, but could not go ahead because of the BJP's opposition.
You blame the BJP for the mess in Bengaluru, but the government has not addressed any of the major issues in the city.
What are you saying? We have done wonderful work on road development and solid waste management disposal in Bengaluru. Unfortunately, the BJP government at the Centre is not helping us with funds. When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, we got a lot of funds for constructing elevated highways on Hosur Road, Tumakuru Road and the New Airport Road.
