A bureaucrat who has worked with him during his 11-month term as chief minister of Karnataka described his modus operandi. His body language is non-threatening and his mien submissive. As chief minister, if he got reports that there had been excessive rent seeking in a particular district, he would announce that he would be touring the region by road and would like to meet the District Magistrate (DM) at the border of the district. He would then pat the seat beside him, inviting the DM to sit beside him. He would open a notebook and ask the DM to tell him what the problems of the district were and how he could help. Lulled into a sense of security, the DM would then describe all the things he was doing, what difficulties he was facing, and so on.
As they reached the border of the next district, the chief minister would then ask about controversies in the district. The DM would start explaining. "By the way", the chief minister would say casually, "there have been some reports about you. If you want to clarify, now is the time to do so. But remember, if I hear anything further about you, you will be removed from your post". Stopping just short of reciting the mantra of post call-centre India ('nothing personal, have a nice day') the chief minister would grin, pat the now thoroughly shaken DM on his back and get on with his job in the next district.
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Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa made the same mistake: of underestimating Gowda by agreeing to his nomination as chief minister when the former had to step down in a corruption case and was later hauled off to jail. Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley were despatched to Bangalore to consult with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Legislature Party. They were on the verge of anointing Gowda as chief minister (supported by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary Prabhakar Bhatt, who moved heaven and earth to gather support for Gowda) when the Ananth Kumar-led faction said it would be a travesty of justice and fair play if their claim was not heard by the two observers. The matter was postponed for two days. Eventually Gowda did become chief minister. He is from a rival caste - he is a Vokkaliga but from a small sub-caste. Yeddyurappa thought Gowda would be biddable because he had no mass base (he had to be elected to the council because no one would vacate their Assembly seat for him). He was wrong.
It was only later in July 2012, after he was asked to step down from the chief ministership, that Gowda explained why he had to resign. At a BJP workers' convention in Haveri, he said publicly that it was one of Yeddyurappa's cronies, PWD Minister C M Udasi, who influenced Yeddyurappa to get him sacked. He claimed that Udasi used to receive three per cent commission on each tender issued by him and seven to 10 per cent commission on the passage of each Bill, and that Udasi's relatives were deployed to collect this money. "I never hesitated to punish corrupt officials and ministers during my tenure. Therefore, I transferred several PWD officers to check Udasi's corrupt ways. But he complained to Yeddyurappa and opposed the measures taken by me to prevent corruption. He wanted me to be removed from the CM's post and Yeddyurappa ensured that," Gowda revealed.
As the BJP leadership looked the other way, Gowda was replaced by Jagadish Shettar: only to be elevated to the post of railway minister when Narendra Modi came to power.
It is hard to judge what sort of railway minister he will make. Battling corruption is one thing. Understanding economics is another. Apart from the existential crisis the Indian Railways is facing, it will be Gowda's job to translate into reality the prime minister's favourite project, high-speed rail, for which Indian Railways neither has the appetite nor the money - although passenger and freight rates were increased on Friday. The Railways employs 1.3 million people. It will take more than an affable nature to discipline this workforce and get them to start working seriously.
"He's a really nice guy," said an officer in the Railway Ministry, when asked for first impressions of the new minister. Really? We'll know soon enough.