Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who quit BJP and joined the Congress before the Assembly elections in Karnataka, said that Opposition unity was vital if the BJP was to be thwarted in the next year’s general elections.
He was speaking at a seminar on the 16th Assembly Elections: Impact, Results and Future Political Repercussions, organised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Research and Extension Centre, University of Mysore, here on Saturday, June 10.
Mr. Shettar said there was a time when it was Congress versus all political parties but in recent times, it is the BJP versus the rest. A united Opposition then fought the Congress and dislodged it but today, there was a question mark on the unity of the Opposition parties in the absence of which it will be difficult to vote out the BJP, Mr. Shettar added.
He said the recent inauguration of the new Parliament building was a testimony to it and though many political parties from the Opposition boycotted, it there were many who were ambivalent on their stance. There is a meeting of the Opposition parties scheduled for June 23 in Patna and the future course of action to face the Parliamentary elections should be analysed seriously, said Mr. Shettar.
The former CM said the Congress should also make inroads into the BJP vote share in 142 such Parliamentary constituencies in the country where the BJP has a stronghold failing which the Opposition cannot hope to wrest power at the Centre.
Referring to the recent Karnataka election results, Mr. Shettar pointed out that though the BJP has been thrown out of office, its vote share has remained intact and hovers around 33 per cent to 36 per cent which is almost the same as that of the Congress vote share which is slightly higher this time.
Mr. Shettar also lamented that the influence of money power in politics has remained uncurbed as a result of which commoners cannot hope to contest of win the elections. ‘’It has become a business and those who invest in it are keen to get their investment back,’’ said Mr. Shettar, faulting the Election Commission for not doing enough to curb money power or ushering in stronger electoral reforms.
He said the guarantee schemes of the Congress was one of the factors that influenced the voters as people are affected by price rise, unemployment, hunger. It was dismissed as election gimmicks in the run-up to the polls but even in developed countries unemployment doles are a norm, said Mr. Shettar welcoming the conditions being applied as a correct move.
Prof. Purushottam Bilimale, a progressive thinker and formerly of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof. R. Indira, sociologist, Prof. S. Narendra Kumar, Director of the Centre, G. Somashekar, Principal and others were present.
