Gundu Rao steadily losing ground ever since he became Karnataka CM

Soon after assuming power in 1980, R. Gundu Rao, Karnataka chief minister, confessed: "We are all part of the Indira (Gandhi) show.... We will all stay on in its countless acts and numerous scenes as long as we are allowed to...." Events of the past weeks indicate that Mrs Gandhi is ready for a new scenario in this sprawling, industrially advanced state.Gundu Rao, a hot favourite of Sanjay Gandhi and his coterie, has been steadily losing ground ever since he became chief minister. His last hope of retrieving lost ground from the slippery slope he finds himself on today lay in bringing about an end to the 77-day strike by 75,000-odd workers in five Bangalore-based key public sector undertakings - Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).Most of the employees and the managements of these undertakings were banking on Gundu Rao's persuasive skill to get a tripartite negotiating machinery set up for a quick and amicable accord. Exuding optimism and asserting that he would personally help try to resolve the deadlock over the demands of striking workers, Gundu Rao persuaded them to call off the strike without any pre-conditions almost six weeks ago. But Mrs Gandhi, who seems to have made up her mind about a change in Karnataka leadership, never helped Gundu Rao pull his chestnuts out of the fire.Subbaiah: Demanding Rao's resignationA.K. Subbaiah, president of the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has demanded Gundu Rao's resignation as he has failed to bring about an amicable settlement following the withdrawal of the strike. "If he is in a helpless position and he does not carry much weight with the Centre as he claimed, then he has no business to continue in office," Subbaiah said.Assurance: Before leaders of the joint action front of the public sector employees agreed to call off the strike, Gundu Rao told a closed-door meeting of opposition leaders: "I am powerful enough to safeguard the interests of the workers. Rest you can leave it to me." It was on the basis of this assurance that the opposition leaders persuaded the joint action front to call off the strike.Indeed, Gundu Rao did have a preliminary round of parleys in New Delhi with the prime minister and a few other concerned ministers in the third week of March. The obvious expectation was that soon a properly constituted tripartite negotiating machinery, vested with power and authority to discuss and negotiate all demands, disputes and differences between management and workers, and also the right to initial any amicable viable accord, would be set up.Ibrahim (left) and Rao: Bad publicityThe consensus was that Gundu Rao would play a cardinal role in this collective effort to cut through all the tangled industrial- labour skein and help hammer out an agreement. But that was not to be, as Mrs Gandhi ordained otherwise.When Gundu Rao failed in his intercessions with the Centre and the joint action front leaders resorted to an indefinite hunger strike, he acted on predictable lines: use of brute force. When violence erupted, he panicked and alerted the army to stand by.Units of the Central Reserve Police and Border Security Force were deployed in Bangalore to quell riots in the city. As if the colossal production loss in the five public sector undertakings, running into tens of crores of rupees, was not enough, lakhs worth of public property was damaged by the rampaging mob.Agitations: Union Communications Minister CM Stephen's statement in Parliament on May 8 that the managements of the locked-out public sector units had been directed to invite only the recognised unions for negotiations and not the joint action front leaders, and that the Government could not give uniform wages to all public sector employees, has cut the ground from under Gundu Rao's feet.And the chief minister, in an attempt to wash his hands off the entire episode, wrote in a letter to leaders of the opposition parties: "I cannot accept the position that the state Government has any direct responsibility in the matter since the question involved is one in respect of workers in the public sector undertakings and the Government of India."In handling practically every agitation, the Gundu Rao Government had proved to be trigger-happy. Not a month passed by without a police firing in one part of the state or the other. According to D.B. Chandre Gowda, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee-U (KPCC-U) president, more people were killed in police firing in the last 15 months than in the entire history of Karnataka.In the choice of his cabinet colleagues also, Gundu Rao has not exactly distinguished himself. Most members of his team are rudderless and colourless. They are ministers because they had been in the Devraj Urs cabinet or because they represent a particular caste, community, district or pressure group.The few who had excelled themselves, like CM Ibrahim, Veerappa Moily or Kagodu Thimmappa, have brought the kind of publicity unlikely to enhance the prestige of the ministry. Gundu Rao's attempt to install Rajkumar Ranjit Ghorpade, a former Swatantrite, involved in a major forest loot scandal backfired miserably. All this only tarnishes the image of the Congress(I). It is no wonder then that talk of a search for an alternative leader is gaining ground in Bangalore.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 21, 2013 15:16 IST--- ENDS ---

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Gundu Rao steadily losing ground ever since he became Karnataka CM

Gundu Rao, a hot favourite of Sanjay Gandhi and his coterie, has been steadily losing ground ever since he became chief minister.

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