National

Democracy Of The Few

Business, not politics, could decide the poll results. That's how strong lobbies are.

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Democracy Of The Few
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The Lobbies That Support The Congress

  • Information Technology
  • Infrastructure
  • Liquor
  • Higher Education
BJP Friends
  • Builders
  • Farmers
Supporting JD(U)
  • Mining Lobby
  • Real Estate Lobby

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Us alone: Yediyurappa and Advani at a Bangalore rally

In Bellary district, the amount of money being thrown into the elections is said to be obscene. According to sources, mining rivals are said to be clandestinely releasing "nearly Rs 2 crore a day". Recently, Rs 10 crore being transported in cash was seized in the district. A few days ago, at three other places, Rs 70 lakh each in cash was impounded. On May 13, Deve Gowda declared that the JD(S) would skip campaigning in Bellary because it could not match the money power of the Reddys and Lads. The previous day, Diwakar Babu, the JD(S) candidate in Bellary city had retired in favour of mining giant Anil Lad.

If these are the more talked about lobbies—'vulgar' because of their financial muscle—one that has quietly made an entry into the fray this time is the infrastructure lobby that has been arguing the case for a better Bangalore. It is this lobby that has from time to time raised the issue of poor connectivity in the city. Recently, it tried unsuccessfully the PIL route to get the government to keep the hal airport open even after the new one at Devanahalli was ready. Since this lobby has urban appeal, all political parties have had to take serious note of it.

So, who constitutes the infrastructure lobby? It is led by professionals like former Citibank executive Ramesh Ramanathan and former software professional R.K. Misra. Corporate honchos—like Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Deccan Aviation's G.R. Gopinath and Mohandas Pai of Infosys—are seen as fellow travellers. Ramanathan admitted to Outlook that there was indeed an infrastructure lobby. "Unlike others," he notes, "this is a very legitimate and transparent one that works in the city's interest. It's not about individuals who are trying to access power through financial muscle. Other lobbies have no stated purpose. We believe that politics is all about negotiating and competing for limited resources." S.M. Krishna as chief minister was largely perceived as patronising the infrastructure and IT lobby. But with the defeat of his government in 2004, the IT lobby has been ignored by successive regimes.

Narendra Pani of the National Institute of Advanced Studies nuances the argument about the infrastructure lobby: "It cuts across activities and industries. It is not about people who invest in infrastructure, but about those who demand better facilities. The real estate and the IT lobbies are bound to support them."

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H.D. Deve Gowda

Ashok Kheny, the NRI businessman who has repeatedly run into trouble with the Gowda family over the issue of 'excess' land for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project he is building, may technically claim membership to the infrastructure lobby but is not perceived to be apolitical. He is allegedly funding the BJP to defeat the JD(S), but denies this: "Deve Gowda is misrepresenting everything. I ain't supporting the BJP. I am only asking people to support a national party. Getting another coalition government would be like putting a bunch of monkeys in power."

Political analyst Ravindra Reshme identifies the overall shift that has taken place vis-a-vis the various lobbies. "The trend today is that the political patron himself becomes part of the lobby," he says. "Earlier, he used to be in the background and functioned as a godfather. It all started in S.M. Krishna's time when Dr G. Parameshwar, who owned an engineering and medical college, was made the higher education minister. This gave legitimacy to the capitation fee lobby. Similarly, Kumaraswamy showed his preference for the real estate lobby by allotting huge tracts of land for a multinational builder just before he stepped down." It is not just Kumaraswamy, the Congress and the BJP have also given tickets to the land mafia.

On the other hand, like Dr Parameshwar, top Congressmen such as Shamanur Shivashankarappa, R.L. Jalappa and M.R. Seetharam own professional colleges in the state. All of them—except Jalappa, an MP—are contesting the polls.

Whatever the tensions and aspirations of the different lobbies, May 25 will decide which ones wear a smile. With the third phase of polls slated for May 22, the lobbies still have some work to do.

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