Having donned several hats, technocrat and industrialist-turned politician is entering the electoral fray for the first time. The three-time Rajya Sabha member, who has represented Karnataka thus far, has taken a calculated detour to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s ‘mission’ to make inroads in Kerala that has been an impenetrable stronghold of the Congress and the CPI(M)-led coalitions.
The Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Jal Shakti has based his campaign strategy in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency on highlighting the untapped potential of the Kerala capital as a technology, tourism and research behemoth.
He is pitted against Congress Working Committee member and incumbent Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who is gunning for a record fourth consecutive victory from the constituency, and former Communist Party of India (CPI) Kerala State secretary and former MP Pannian Raveendran.
In an interview with The Hindu at the bustling party election committee office in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Chandrasekhar flayed both the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) for allegedly preventing Kerala from achieving such goals and resorting to “petty politics” for their respective gains.
For me, this is really about replacing the political culture, where not doing anything and making hollow promises, with what I call politics of performance. I am very confident that today, any Indian anywhere in the country, including in Thiruvananthapuram, aspires for a better future. The people see me as an agent of change and as one who can perform and deliver.
Yes, I am an outsider by way of the political culture that these two parties (the Congress and the CPI(M)) represent. I am very different from them. I am not going to do negative politics by appeasing any one community or resort to other such tactics. I am certainly an outsider in that aspect and I am not shy to say that I am very different from the two of them.
Tourism, which used to be another fast growing sector in the State, has been witnessing a downslide. Thiruvananthapuram had pioneered health and wellness tourism segments back in the 1990s. However, we do not have foreign visitors as we used to have in the past. Our research and knowledge sectors have also been ailing with 37% of all undergraduate seats remaining vacant in the higher education institutions in Kerala.
The political vision in the state has been absolutely weak. They (LDF and UDF) have never focussed on the economy, but mostly on politics. And today, that is the reason why this proud State, which I call my own and has so many talented people, is forced to borrow money at high interest rates to pay pensions and salaries.
Compounding the hardships caused by economic mismanagement, an atmosphere has been created where investments are a bit complicated. The plight suffered by KITEX is an example of how investors are forced to run away. You cannot create a buoyant economy without investments coming, and without a buoyant economy, you cannot create jobs and opportunities. Without jobs and opportunities, children will not join colleges here for their studies. So, we have to bell the cat at some point.
That is their politics. When you are bereft of ideas and you have no exciting projects for a youngster today, what will you do? You will scare them, instil fear in them.
The absence of preventive measures has caused damage to Kerala’s beaches. For a fishing community, if you don’t have a beach, you can’t launch your boat. And you can’t bring your catch back in. It is like saying that I’m in a factory, but there’s no machinery there. As a result, the livelihood of the people has been destroyed. While nobody has uttered a word for them, I have taken up the issue with the Fisheries department (under the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying).