For more than two years now, news of Maharashtra governor S.M. Krishna‘s return to “active politics” in Karnataka has sustained many a journalistic byline. Hot tips of a coming Union cabinet portfolio if not an ambassadorial posting have been fed by Krishna’s media minders with boring predictability. And so it was on Maha Shivaratri 2008, when news filtered in from Bombay that the former Karnataka chief minister was headed back to his home-state.
This time, though, it was more than just a rumour with Krishna formally putting in his papers, even as the Election Commission looks increasingly likely to call for assembly elections in end-May. But the irony could not be more striking. Krishna was the man who led the Congress to a debacle in 2004, and four years later he is being projected as the saviour who could energise the moribund party and bring it back to power.
Questions: Will S.M. Krishna be able to resuscitate the Congress? Or will his late-entry only further weigh down the Grand Old Party which has at least half-a-dozen aspirants to the chief minister’s gaddi? Does the 76-year-old Krishna with his “hi-tech” image have the required charisma to swing voters towards the Congress again? Or having seen the rousing leadership of Dharam Singh and H.D. Kumaraswamy and B.S. Yediyurappa, is Krishna just the man that voters are pining for? And, if the Congress wins, will Krishna become chief minister again?
Photograph: Karnataka Photo News
churumuri 
people have not forgotten the corruption during s m krishna’s tenure as C M . tens and thousands of acres of fertile lands were siphoned off to land mafia. poor farmers were relegated to inhuman poverty. kannadigas were made outsiders in bengalooru. IT BT honchos were running karnataka govt from the comforts of their A C CHAMBERS.
return of S M KRISHNA will only polarise rural-urban voters which will help JD S.
FIRST TIME IN HISTORY OF KARNATAKA ,THERE IS A STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF KANNADA RESURGENCE ,WHICH IS A BIG VOTEBANK—- raitha sangha , champa’s new paksha, KA RA VE will call the shots in many assembly segments. if BJP and JD S are mature enough they should go to the election on kannada swaabhimaana plank.
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Say what you will, at least Krishna had a grand vision of Karnataka, even if that was restricted to Bangalore and Mysore. What was Dharam Singh’s or Kumaraswamy’s or Yediyurappa’s vision besides their own family and girlfriends? When Krishna took over, Bangalore’s IT thunder was in danger of being stolen by Chandrababu Naidu’s Andhra. Not only did he prevent it but gave it a further spring. The three chief ministers who followed him were unmitigated disasters. The mere fact that a road to the new airport isn’t ready despite the airport being ready is proof. Bangalore isn’t Karnataka, but if a party/government cannot take care of a capital, what kind of party/government is it?
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Bangalore is not Karnataka. The Congress has seen its bad days and the worese is yet to come. The initial reactions itself indicate there is not much to cheer. And the people who have entered Congress with the hope of getting plum posts will not keep quiet. And added to it the north and south Karnataka factor also come into fore. DKS will not allow MK and DS to shine again. If it is believed that SMK can do wonders it is just a dream! Congress party is like crabs in an open basket…..
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‘rousing leadership’ of Dharam Singh and H.D. Kumaraswamy and B.S. Yediyurappa ??!!
:-)
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Adds to more confusion
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SM Krishna wears a terrible wig! He should take it off and get a transplant or just become a bloody ganja!
The fact that he clings to that Wig and has been doing so for several decades, tells me a lot about him.
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“Say what you will, at least Krishna had a grand vision of Karnataka,..”
LOL. you have a good sense of humour PK :)
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Agree with Prashant. He bags my vote.
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SMK is better than the monkeys that are in fray at present.
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SMK may have learnt a few tricks from Bal, Raj and kin from Maharastra during his tenure there. Now the congress may join with Kannada cheluvaliga Vatal Nagaraj and claim that Karnataka is only for Kannadigas. What is in store for the future Karnataka? Why not a leader emerge, who promises clean governance, green revolution, power & good road for all OF Karnataka. Whenever Mody’S name comes up people see only the negative side of it but he has done 95% good and 5% bad in Gujarat. Why look only at the 5%?
Can some one emerge from old Mysore to do this for us? Even if it is a new party it would do — START A REVOLUTION. LET THE INTELLECTUALS DECIDE.
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Dr Ramesh – “raitha sangha , champa’s new paksha, KA RA VE will call the shots in elections”
Hahaha pipe dream.
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SMK will immediately makes fallowing changes if he comes back to power.
* PlayWin lottery —> Good entertainment for people :)
* Arrack ban will be removed —-> so people can have KF like good times :P
* Devlop Bangalore for elite
* He will be contained to bangalore city management at most he will reach maddur and mysore :)
many more…….
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gundabhat,
“SMK is better than the monkeys that are in fray at present.”
He is looking just like any other monkey in the pic.
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Will SMK coming back help Congress ? Too early to say. But one say for sure his entry will definitely get JDS close ranks, join hands and attack Congress.
SMK come back will cause heart burn and confusion and most congmen will be busy fighting themselves and pulling each other down. This will help BJP.
SMK, whatever his virtual achievements were, was a disaster to the state and his tenure has caused irreparable, irreversible damage to the state. His come back will cheer his old gang of IT chums, Real Estate cos, English media.
If Cong thinks a 76 years old politician is the only hope for the party, then it shows the party desperation and bankrupty.
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At least SMK didn’t indulge in corruption, communalism or nepotism, which are the very basic requirements for survival in todays sic politics. ‘Educated politician’, ‘Clean politician’ are all oxymorons which he probably tried to disprove unsuccessfully. Hope he becomes successful this time.
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AnonMys said : ” At least SMK didn’t indulge in corruption, communalism or nepotism, which are the very basic requirements for survival in todays sic politics”
Was that a joke ?
Krishna was perhaps the most corrupt politician ever in the history of Karnataka. The Gowdas and others are petty thieves when compared to Krishna. Infact, Krishna institutionalised corruption in the state and thus responsible for corruptionn and miseries that state will face for several years to come.
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Andy ji, What happened? Was everyone euphoric about the IT and forgot to point out the said corruption at that time???
Take a leaf from what Dhoni says ‘criticize me for the decisions I make at the time of the decision not when the results come.’
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Till SMK took over, the road and flyover projects had gathered dust for years. Ring Road is a classic example. Till SMK was there Bangalore seemed to be keeping pace with the growth in population. It was only after he moved that everything went haywire. This guy at least did a few things in Bangalore, corruption or whatever. What did the last couple of governments do? Corruption continued and nothing happened with regard to infrastructure anywhere in the state.
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Congress adds one more Dharam or Kharge to make a team three!
Others are merely corrupt SMK run a corporate coorupt empire with a magic touch of IT.
_ Congress will loose 2% votes of rural karnataka for SMK’s bangalore bias.
– He was and will be nonreachable for anybody excpt IT-beauty and others.
_ now hung assembly certain, What about rain, drought etc
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whoever comes, my vote is for Dr. Ramesh, if he stands in this election…
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Give SMK a a second chance. He is much better compared to the rest of the lot from all parties. There is nothing called a ‘saint’ in politics.
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Saints have started wearing khadi during election and do paadayaatra and then the people will make paadayaatra. Amongst politicians now original partymen, inducted partymen, imported partymen are there. If they are retired hurt in one sphere they will be inducted and injected into other sphere with a new coat of paint and make up. Loss to one field is gain for the other field, Jai Bharath maata….
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It would be naive to expect anything worthwhile from any poitician in our country. Yet, among the lot we have, SMK is much better. Imagine and line up all the possible (and impossible!) contenders for CM’s post and think for a while about each one of them individual-wiuse and party-wise, whom to vote. You may find SMK better placed and more suitable and acceptable. If nothing else, he has some sensibility, dignity and serenity in him.
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goldstar— yen guruu , ee range alli kaalu yelitha iddera.
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SM’s return to Bengaloru is timely, indeed. For a start, he will now start using the Bengaluru International Airport to have the most frequent Italian dinner in Delhi.
Well, it is a shame that the 3rd busiest airport in the country resembles a county or rural airport in any advanced country in the world with just one tiny terminal and a mini-runway! The CEO of the airport project has been on record mentioning the jems of the new infrastructure: three imported firefighting engines called Panthers, as if that they are going to be the most frequently used tools.
With just 16 operational counters (30 planed) for departure and arrival, 10 conveyor belts and shockingly only 6 gates/aerobridges, the airport will soon resemble another Kailasipalyam Bus Station, not even Majestic Bus Stand in central Bangalore
There has been no foresight into key issues like approach roads, crowd control and baggage management, crisis management, runway construction (all new airports are upgrading to land the A 380), lack of proper visitor view areas, lack of speedy boarding and baggage clearances, obsolete security apparatus and many other obvious blunders, the imported CEO apart from the AAI chief for the ‘showcase project’ deserve to be immediately packed off to Zurich & Delhi.
Incidentally the nearest and best airport in the region, Viz., Changi in Singapore has 58 gates (of which 10 are A380 certified) capable of handing thousands of passengers simultaneously with three main runways and 4 huge airport terminals! The interiors are the greenest and most advanced among all airports in the world. In fact, they are now planning for 2020 and constructing a 4th terminal, each terminal being 20 times bigger than the new Bangalore Airport! Incidentally, Singapore has population of just 3 million but the airport has annual traffic of 20 million, speaks a lot of business opportunities in tourism or aviation missed in India.
After many corruption issues and the Gowda clan’s interferences until recently, we can now expect SM or DK’s men and their well known cartel to manage all the money making opportunities and machines, landing quotas, recruitment, contracts, excise, customs, stalls, taxis…et al.
Welcome back!
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there is only one candidate in Congress who is a best fit to become CM once party wins and that is Shri R V Deshpande the most dynamic minister of the state. Yes Krishna will help congress prospects and BJP better take care of this as Krishna is Krishna and Deshpande is Arjuna. Dharam singh and Kharge incl Siddu are great leaders who will ensure that best amongst them is chosen. Congress Victory is a foregone conclusion as BJP and JD dont have that many great leaders and the greatest of them GOWDA has betrayed all trust of everyone.
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A deshpande plugging for another deshpande. Not that there is anything wrong with that :)
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After entering S.M.Krishna in to the karnataka,now in congress there are three parties namely S.M.Krishna Party Dharmkharge Party and Sidharamaiah party.So think and give your vote.After getting majority again siddaramaiah start AHINDA becare and give your vote for JD-S.
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