Congress MLC Yathindra’s comparison of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in terms of their respective contributions to Mysuru drew flak from Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.
Mr. Yaduveer, who is also the scion of the Mysore royal family, told reporters there was no need to make any such comparison as leaders whether in democracy or monarchy have the responsibility to serve the people.
“If a leader gets power, it is to serve the people, not to compete,” said Mr. Yaduveer, a BJP MP.
“Whether it was Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, his predecessors or successors, or political leaders in democracy, all have a responsibility towards development of the region. There is no need to make any comparison,” he said.
As he himself was a descendent of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Mr. Yaduveer said he would not like to comment on Mr. Yathindra’s statement, but added that people of the region were aware of the development works taken up during the period and the Congress leaders could conduct a survey on the matter.
Just like the rulers in monarchy worked for the welfare of their people, the present-day leaders should focus on resolving the problems facing the people, he said, seeking to draw the attention of the State government to the price rise and the “lack of progress” made in the development of Mysuru airport.
Little or no work had been carried out for the development of Mysuru airport, he said, taking exception to the delay on the part of the State government to release sufficient funds and expedite the process of land acquisition.
Caste census
Mr. Yaduveer described the caste census carried out in Karnataka as a “tamasha”.
For, no section of society is satisfied with the caste census conducted by the previous Congress government 10 years ago. Questioning the failure of the State government to release the findings of the census conducted by spending ₹165 crore, Mr. Yaduveer said the people of the State had a right to know the reason behind casting the earlier census findings into the dustbin.
Claiming that the State government was not capable of carrying out a caste census, Mr. Yaduveer said the Centre was mandated to carry out a caste census across the country.
“When the Congress was in power in the country, it did not make use of the opportunity to conduct a caste census,” he said.
Public debate
On Mr. Siddaramaiah’s challenge to the BJP and JD (S) leaders for a public debate on the development work in the State, Mr. Yaduveer asked the Chief Minister to release a White Paper first on the promises made to the people that they had been kept.
