The corruption of political class is only a reflection of the corruption of the middle class, is the unanimous opinion of two of the brightest young directors of Sandalwood.
Venality has seeped into the moral fibre of society so deeply that people have begun accepting and even condoning corruption as long as the politician either delivers or is perceived as delivering, said KM Chaitanya, director of the latest hit Paraari.
The people too had been corrupted by the system to such an extent that they would not mind accepting whatever cash or gifts doled out by the contestants in elections, fully aware that the contestants would not visit them till the next elections, observed Sunil aka Sunni of Simple Agi Ondh Love Story, which too is making waves.
The two, along with Sachi, the editor of Simple Agi Ondh Love Story were in the dna office in Bangalore for a discussion on the forthcoming assembly elections.
“The people have started feeling that since politicians spend so much money for elections, it is alright to give them some bonus to do their job.”
On the manner in which corruption had begun to be acceptable, Sunil narrated an anecdote about a public meeting in the area where he lived. The crony of a candidate contesting in the constituency had in a public speech promised that his leader would pocket only half of the allocated funds for development for the area, promising 50% would surely be spent on project.
Terming it moral erosion, Chaitanya said that the IT boom in Bangalore had changed the culture in the city. The purchasing power of the migrants had transformed the economics of the city and had marginalised the old-time Bangaloreans. With the growth of the city, residents had become selfish and self-centred and the concept of a neighbourhood where everyone knew everyone else had vanished.
Calibre of leadership in all political parties was poor, and the young leadership was lumpen. One reason was the banning of elections in colleges. Earlier, students unions used to produce leaders who would graduate in politics. Now, it was lumpens and people with vested interests who took to politics.
However, both saw a ray of hope in the manner in which the young responded to the Anna Hazare movement. But the media created and distorted the phenomenon into a mere candle-light vigil. The leaders of the movement needed to stay strong, but fizzled out. They should perhaps revive the movement and not expect a quick revival.”
On caste politics, Chaitanya said: “Voting was always caste based. But, people were not brazen about it. It is only in this government and its predecessor that I have seen that caste has been so blatantly used for votes. Two major comunities have monopolised political power and there is a need for social re-engineering to give voice and political space for the other communities,” he said.
In their view three things that the city urgently needs are better traffic management, better security for citizens and better delivery of services. The city suffered from an acute lack of vision on the part of planners. Planning in Bangalore did not keep in view long-term needs.
Entrenched interests influenced governance.
Citing an instance, Chaitanya pointed out that the Bangalore Metro was perhaps the first in the world not to have parking lots. “And that is because more money can be made by calling separate tenders for parking lots later,” he said ruefully.
Sunil pointed out that the all political parties interpreted development as infrastructure building or enhancement, and ignored human development. “When a person driving on the road, and a child is crossing the road, he is only bothered today as to how he can avoid the child. But, there was a time in this city when we used to worry why a child was on the road. This attitude needs to be changed.”
Chaitanya added: “Growth has only become what the IMF has defined it as. Growth has become GDP-driven while it should be people-driven and quality-driven.”
How do they rate the BJP’s rule in the last five years?
“It is the worst government in the history of Karnataka,” said Chaitanya. Sunil concurred.
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