This blog wishes all readers a belated happy Kannada Rajyotsava to its readers.

This Rajyotsava is also special because it marks the first of many braindead schemes to ensure that it’s all downhill from here.

Bengalooru: Using the platform, nearly a year after his predecessor N Dharam Singh said Bangalore would be renamed as Bengalooru, he said: “I am formally stating that 10 cities including Bangalore will use their Kannada names in English also. The process to make this official is on.”
The 10 cities are: Bengalooru (Bangalore), Mysooru (Mysore), Mangalooru (Mangalore), Chikmagalooru (Chikmagalur), Shivamogga (Shimoga), Belagaavi (Belgaum), Kalburgi (Gulbarga), Hubballi (Hubli), Hosapete (Hospet) and Tumakooru (Tumkur).

Decolonizing and all sound good only if it were not used as substitutes for policy. In no specific order, sample this list of a few problems Karnataka faces:

• Power (as in “electricity,” not political power) : Absolutely pathetic; 10-16 hour power cuts are routine in villages.
• Agriculture: Problems redressed by granting newer loans and waiving off the old ones. The source of funding is anybody’s guess.
• Infrastructure: Huh?
• Water supply: See “Infrastructure.”
• IT: Doing their best to lose what landed into Karnataka/Bangalore’s lap fortuitously.
• Other industries: Policy substituted with rhetoric.

All this will steadily worsen under this regime. The Chief Minister, Kumaraswamy is weighed down rather heavily under the weight of his own promises. In short order, here’s another list, of his promises when he snatched assumed power:

• No government interference in IT/BT and related industries
• Drastic improvements in agriculture
• Measures to empower women
• Personal inspection of Bangalore’s infrastructure works every night
• Eradication of rural poverty
• Support for Dalits/backward classes
• Setting up information kiosks in all corners of Karnataka
• Rooting out corruption completely
• Clean and transparent administration

NONE of these have been implemented. Bangalore’s infrastructure won’t be improved by renaming the city. What instead will happen is this:

The other aspect to be considered is the cost of this name change that is it worth the whole exercise? Experts say that the cost will run into crores but the government claims it will be negligible and will uphold people’s sentiments.

Yes. It is truly prudent to uphold people’s sentiments than better their lives.

And the damn “name change” is not even a name change. It is a mere change in its (English) spelling. I’ve written a rather lengthy piece about it.  If Kumaraswamy, backed by a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals are really passionate about their decolonizing activity, the real way out is not to change spellings: they should prohibit using English.

But Kumaraswamy should be credited with achieving political finesse pretty quickly. He has managed to almost bury the infamous mining scandal, that threatened his seat by some very clever gimmicks: sleeping in Dalits’ houses, convening a “patriotic” session in Belgaum, and renaming Bangalore.

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