Humble framer

Karnataka8217;s chief minister has assured all those appalled by the turn of events that he will try and get Narayana Murthy to take back his resignation. But even if the immediate crisis blows over, it seems there can be no addressing the tension between those committed to modernising Karnataka through a credible, intelligent and sustainable process of growth and those who wish to draw political mileage out of painting such a project as anti-farmer, anti-rural and anti-poor. Deve Gowda8217;s smear campaign is powered by a desire to appear as a champion of rural interests willing to take on the Infosys Goliath. The man, who once famously declared himself a 8220;humble farmer8221;, has turned into a humble framer. He needs to frame Narayana Murthy and belittle Infosys to emerge larger in his own estimation.

But the effort to present two Karnatakas at odds with each other is not just faulty, it is patently dishonest. To pretend that the emergence of a thriving Infosys goes against rural interests, or to argue that better infrastructure for Bangalore comes at the cost of Karnataka8217;s development is to see such growth as a zero sum game. But that8217;s not the case. One Infosys has created jobs for over 40,000 people, with at least a quarter of them drawn from the state, including its hinterland. But then Deve Gowda8217;s is not a reasoned argument, it8217;s a political one. The dissimulation comes through when he accuses Narayana Murthy of delaying the international airport project. In fact, the Infosys chairman had to cut through a barrage of political opposition, lobby tirelessly with politicians, argue his case from every forum available to him, in order to get the project through. Deve Gowda8217;s heavy-footed and blinkered politics may end up not just alienating one man, but seriously damaging the interests of his state.