00:00Let me bring in on this broadcast B.S. Arun, Senior Journalist and R.K. Upadia, Senior Journalist.
00:05Mr. Arun, I'd like to begin with you on what we're seeing right now in Karnataka.
00:10A second breakfast meeting while there's pin-drop silence in Delhi.
00:15We all thought that over the weekend, you know, Akshay would shift from Karnataka to Delhi,
00:18that the high command would kind of get the wheels turning to take a decision.
00:22None of that happening, sir. It's only optics management.
00:24Well, it shows that the Congress high command is in no hurry to resolve the Karnataka power crisis.
00:33They have shown it again and asked Shukumar and Sidhra Mayer to hold a breakfast meeting.
00:39Now, there is not just one, but two breakfast meetings.
00:43There was no breakthrough in the first meeting.
00:45I don't think there will be any breakthrough either in the second.
00:48But as you rightly pointed out, the decision has to be taken in Delhi.
00:53The Congress high command, you know, has given sort of an indication for quite some time
01:00that it's not too concerned about the developments that are happening in Bangalore, in Karnataka.
01:07Because, you know, the statement war had been going on for quite some time.
01:12We saw a two-tier war just before the two met for breakfast.
01:18Correct.
01:18You know, about the world power and the world power.
01:21So, this is sort of, you know, the cold war happening between the two.
01:26But the high command has not opened its eyes.
01:28All that happened was Karge coming to Bangalore and meeting some of the leaders.
01:34And Sidhra Mayer going to Delhi and meeting Rahul Gandhi, while DK Shukumar cut sort of, you know,
01:42a loss of face for him that although he went to Delhi, he could not meet the Congress leadership.
01:48So, to that extent, you know, there is some sort of a setback for Shukumar, both in Delhi
01:55as well as in Bangalore, in the sense that the breakfast meeting, you know, turned out to be a damn squib.
02:02There was no major development as regards the leadership tassel that they, you know,
02:08repeated the mantra of being united, you know, fighting the elections together.
02:13And, you know, it was more of a blah-blah than anything that was concrete that was told to the media, at least.
02:19We don't know what exactly they discussed, whether they agreed to anything or whether they disagreed.
02:27But the fact is, the leadership tassel has remained unresolved as of today.
02:34Let me turn this around, Mr. R.K. Upadhyay.
02:36Are we reading too much into these breakfast meats?
02:38This is the chief minister, the deputy chief minister, getting together for a huddle.
02:42Maybe they're discussing governance.
02:44Maybe they're discussing administrative issues in the state of Karnataka.
02:48At the end of the day, do they have a great working relationship?
02:51And so, therefore, as a result, governance isn't really taking a hit.
02:55They're being patient with whatever the high command will decide.
03:00Actually, that two of them can have as many breakfast meetings as they want.
03:04I mean, after all, one has to have a breakfast in the morning.
03:07So, you know, instead of just to eat li, vada and puri,
03:09they could have a naughty chicken, as Shukumar has promised.
03:12And some politics.
03:13So that is good for them.
03:14I mean, but that apart, I don't think any substantial issues are being discussed.
03:19And it cannot happen just between the two.
03:22There has to be central mediators, you know, who can sit down with them and then work out a solution.
03:27Otherwise, you're just, you know, getting nowhere.
03:30My hunch is, you know, Rahul Gandhi is least interested in change of leadership.
03:35You know, it goes against the grain of his social justice agenda.
03:39And he feels that Siddharamaya is the best person right now.
03:43And if he is removed from power, it will go against his own policy.
03:48Because after all, Congress has only three chief ministers.
03:50And Siddharamaya belongs to the OBC.
03:52And replacing him with somebody like Shukumar will send out a bad, you know, wrong message across the country.
03:58That could be one thinking.
04:00But then, you see, I'm also looking at what could happen if, you know, Shukumar gets a chance.
04:06See, after all, if at all he has been given a promise, then, you know, that has to be honored sometime or the other.
04:12Probably in a couple of months or three months or whatever.
04:15But then what is Shukumar going to bring to the table?
04:18I mean, as citizens, we are not really enthusiastic about Shukumar taking over.
04:23Because we know what he is capable of or not capable of.
04:27So you're suggesting you're going to call Siddharamaya over a DK Shriv Kumar.
04:30Yeah, you see, looking at that, see, Shukumar has been very undemocratic in his style of functioning.
04:38And, you know, he's very rude with his own MLAs.
04:41And he's not very polite with the people who go to meet him.
04:44And then when it comes to the projects that he has taken up, he doesn't even like well-meaning criticism.
04:50Look at the tunnel project he has taken up.
04:52I mean, he has been passionately following it.
04:54And then look at the cost that is involved.
04:56And every expert has criticized it.
04:59And then from 18,000 crores, now it is going up to 42,000 crores.
05:04And yesterday there was a meeting of experts across the board from Indian Institute of Science and so many organizations.
05:09All of them said this is ill-advised, ill-conceived, unscientific and financially ruining everything.
05:16But this man doesn't want to listen to anybody.
05:19Doesn't want to listen to anybody.
05:20And everybody has pointed out the best way to solve the traffic problem in Bangalore is have more mass transport, have more metros.
05:28No, but are you suggesting then, Mr. Upadhyar, that you believe that Sidramaya is the better chief minister of the two?
05:34No, I don't think.
05:35Yes, naturally.
05:36I mean, you know, as it stands, he's at least more, you know, balanced.
05:40He has carried everybody along.
05:42And Sidramaya, you know, that's the reason why, you know, MLS like him.
05:47Mr. Arun, what do you think?
05:48Kumar is not able to get the support from the MLAs.
05:50Mr. Arun, what do you think?
05:51Do you think that ultimately it comes down to the fact that Sidramaya is someone who the MLAs prefer,
05:57that he has the support of most number of MLAs because of the administrator that he is?
06:03Well, it's not just administration.
06:05It's because, you know, he is the leader of the minorities, of the backward classes and of the Dalits.
06:11That's the reason why he commands the respect as well as the support of a majority of the 135 Congress MLAs.
06:20And that was the reason why when there was power tussled at the beginning of when the Congress came back to power,
06:32it was Sidramaya who made it through and not Shukumar.
06:36It was because of the strength.
06:38It was because he is the mass leader in Karnataka.
06:41He commands, you know, that sort of a support among the masses in the interstate, which Shukumar doesn't.
06:49Shukumar's popularity or base is confined to a specific region.
06:53And his support base among the MLAs is mainly from the local ligas.
06:57So that's sort of a narrow support base that Shukumar enjoys.
07:02And that's the reason why Sidramaya, you know, scores over Shukumar.
07:08That's one reason.
07:09And as far as administration is concerned, you know, recently the caste census took place in Karnataka.
07:17And that was mainly because of the two reasons.
07:19One, Sidramaya himself wanted it.
07:21And number two, the Congress High Command, Ms. Rahul Gandhi in particular, pushed for it.
07:26So, it was the message that they sent that, you know, to the Ahida group, the black courts and minorities and Dalits, that we are with you.
07:39So, because...
07:40The biggest setback really for the Congress, if they upset Sidramaya, will be that particular vote bank.
07:46And that's why it's a hard decision for them to take.
07:49There's a possibility, though, that they are ensuring a truce between D.K. Shivkumar and Sidramaya
07:53because they see this dragging on in the sense that they don't think a decision will be possible right now.
07:57Perhaps in March, once Sidramaya manages that record of being the longest-serving chief minister of Karnataka,
08:03is when they will ensure that he has a graceful exit and bring in D.K. Shivkumar.
08:07That is one of the many possibilities.
08:09Thank you very much, Mr. Arun and Mr. R.K. Upadhyaya, for your time, for joining us here on India Today.
08:14Thank you very much, Mr. Arun and Mr. Arun and Mr. Arun and Mr. Arun.
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