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Atheist on the throne

Will the new Karnataka CM undo years of damage done to the state's infrastructure and whatever else?

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Praveen Bose
Wifey, after a week-long holiday in hot and dry Hyderabad, on returning to Bangalore had no appreciation for the climate. It was the roads that seemed to have caught her interest.

“The roads are so bad here in Bangalore. In Hyderabad it’s much hotter, but the heat doesn’t seem to melt the coal tar,” she exclaimed. A senior official had once said it’s the local MLAs who are responsible for the bad roads as the local self-governing bodies remain fettered by the state government.

Will the new CM undo the years of damage done to the state’s infrastructure and whatever else?
 
The new dispensation in Karnataka, led by Siddaramaiah, the self-declared atheist, is expected to undo a lot of damage many of the theists before him did. The fact that he is an atheist is very intriguing in that how did or does he manage to get along with fellow partymen, of the present and even the previous party, given that almost all of them are very religious as it is the trend today.

That must have been a tall order with his having to co-habit with people who believe in using black magic to deal with rivals and enemies. And, for getting hold of the most-effective and powerful ‘black magicians’ they move across state borders. Even the favourite “black-magicians” of each of the top leaders are now not unknown.

A few of the top leaders are known to have used black magic to even finish off (kill) their rivals.

But, would black magic affect an atheist? It can be used against those who are very religious. But Siddaramaiah?

In Karnataka leaders have always taken the help of the Mutts and sought divine intervention to get votes or to influence the government in its decisions. It would perhaps be the right opportunity to do a Mussolini. Ask the Mutt heads to stay put in their abode and not poke their nose in administration just as Mussolini had done to the Pope.

Perhaps that will ensure that MLAs are less influential and my wife won't complain about roads in Bangalore.

A challenge

Siddaramaiah has always been a challenge to a journalist making page. His name is too long. And, it definitely not respectable to call him plain Siddu.

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First Published: May 27 2013 | 2:24 PM IST

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