ARUN PADAKI writes from Bangalore: A few months back, when I was sitting in the office of the mayor of Mysore, the photographs of former mayors that deocrated the walls brought cheer.  Indeed, we were fortunate to have had such unbelievably great administrators.

Their commitment and selflessness was total.

Now, for almost half a decade now, politicians in Karnataka have stripped themselves of any bit of decency, morality, commitment and love for the land, whatever it was worth.

Never in the history of the State have we seen politics played at such an abysmally low level.

The dirty designs, the wheeling-dealing we see today were usually confined to a few unfortunate city corporations, but with these councillors and their stooges having now become MLAs and MLCs, the gutter culture has taken a step up and reached the hallowed corridors of the Vidhana Soudha.

# While the mine owners ushered in an era of money politics, the legislator has set new benchmark to emulate for the newer generations of people’s representatives: taste defeat in the elections, but become a minister as an MLC.

# Ministers with and without fur caps (even during summer) and their family members now have a great time enjoying power like the dynastic emperors of the medieval world.

# Horribly corrupt legislators, utterly indisciplined, and their hopelessly weak leaders with no commitment towards the welfare of the State have left a wretched trail in the State.

Whither the party of ‘principles’, the party with a difference?

Whither the BJP?

The ragi balls of Karnataka politics who were always at the neck of the perennial chief minister in-waiting from Mysore have now become ‘pals’.  Back stabbing is a meaningless word with these 224 souls.

It reminds me of the cursed pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean, who can take knives and daggers through their bodies, and neither do they bleed nor do they experience pain.

The few gentlemen out of 224, please excuse me, you have no role out there.

There is so much of action, counter-action, then counter-action to counter the counter-action, that the entire State machinery is being used for only their selfish motives, people go to hell.

No worthwhile work will take place till October 11 and 12 and beyond, but the state exchequer will take a big hit as busloads of money will be spent on resort trips, meetings, and more meetings at the CM’s office and residence, negotiators pulling in and out of their SUVs, feeding those errant rodents, etc.

Talking ill about politicians from other regions in the country is now passé.

With great amount of sadness, we have to bow our heads in shame and accept that Karnataka politicians, whom we have elected, are as bad as those from Maharashtra or Jharkhand, Haryana or Goa.

Or worse.

The land, once ruled by Krishnadevaraya, the Wodeyars and Kempe Gowda, the land which boasted the abilities of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the great literati, the state that produced first hydro power station in Asia, the State that had first street lights ahead of other States, is today the a…hole of Indian politics.

Photograph: Karnataka Photo News