Letter from Bangalore: A different class of politics

Never mind their political beliefs, but Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Karnataka Chief Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna seem to have developed a rapport that is rare in India's polity.

Their parties are arch rivals on the political firmament of India. Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party and Krishna's Congress party in Karnataka have fought tooth and nail over many an issue at the national as well as the state level.

But, political observers are beginning to see a healthy, as some of them describe it, "development-oriented" relationship between the two leaders.

Two weeks ago, Krishna was all brimstone over the hurdles placed by the bureaucrats in New Delhi for the construction of the Rs1.15 billion Bangalore international airport.

He had already tied up with his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, to take a joint delegation of MPs from both the states to protest against the roadblocks in the way of economic development of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Last week, Krishna's lengthy meeting with Vajpayee in New Delhi almost settled the issue. The prime minister ensured that all the departments concerned were summoned to his office and one issue after another was sorted out and deadlines fixed for completion of all tasks.

And, when the prime minister arrived on a two-day visit to Karnataka on Thursday, he made Krishna smile at the airport as well as at a public function to open India's unique cable bridge on the outskirts of India's technology capital.

Vajpayee made it clear that by March all the hurdles for the airport project would be cleared. And, these included an amendment to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Act that would permit private consortia to run airports and other issues.

In other words, the amendment would enable the financial appraisers to raise funds for the airport. The airport would be coming up in collaboration with the Siemens Venture, L&T and the Zurich Airport authority and the AAI and the Karnataka government.

As if this was not enough, Vajpayee went a step further to break the old rule that a prime minister would appreciate governance in a state that is ruled only by his party. He put it simply by saying: "Karnataka is a well governed state."

Vajpayee's statement may have raised eyebrows under normal circumstances. But, the situation is different for either of them to be involved in politicking that, invariably, is detrimental to the interests of the state and, more importantly, to the nation.

Politicians of the stature of a Vajpayee and a Krishna know better than anybody else that development of the state and the country is a different ball game all together. And, winning and losing an election is something totally different.

"Elections will be fought with the same vigour as by arch rivals. This is a different situation altogether. Globalisation has changed all that. Political economy dictates a different level of politics that few politicians have understood and know how to play it with style," says a senior bureaucrat on condition of anonymity.

Obviously, Vajpayee and Krishna have the class to play that kind of politics.