Karnataka, though blessed with all the resources needed for economic growth, surprisingly has its growth staggered. The most visible failure is in the area of road and air transport. In many parts of the State there are no roads at all that are motorable. You can't drive any car except an old Ambassador! The roads which are the lifeline of trade, commerce and industrialization are the worst in our State, except for a few hundred kilometers constructed in recent times.

Many major projects like road building, power generation and industrial area development have suffered serious setbacks not for any natural causes but for reasons of human failure greed and corruption, on the part of the rulers subordinating the greater good of the people of Karnataka and its infrastructure to their own self - aggrandizement.

Karnataka politicians belonging to the three major frontline parties, namely Congress, BJP and JD (S), are obsessed more with their party affairs than the affairs of the State.

Surprisingly, even after getting itself installed in power, as per the Constitution of our country, BJP on its part was the first to make its party - oriented political move in a kind of panic - reaction for missing the absolute majority by three MLAs and reaching out to the independents for support in which it succeeded.

This done, BJP could have waited for some time for its next political move to consolidate its position with a comfortable majority of its own MLAs. However, it precipitated the matter by its audacious “Operation Kamala”.

This apparently gave the opposition a chance to accuse the BJP of political corruption and immorality, along with the charge that BJP is doing all this at the cost of governance. The opposition took advantage of the situation to publicly evaluate BJP’s performance even before it completed 100 days in office. Earlier, the Congress and then JD (S) - BJP simply ruled the State without contributing anything to accelerate its industrialization, agrarian reformation or to improve infrastructure. This, despite the State being blessed with good geographical area, rich natural resources and also the human resources that are pre-requisites for growth and development of a State. The reason is not far to seek poor quality of our political leadership.

Except for one or two like Kengal Hanumanthaiah, S. Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil, all others are known to be corrupt, even though some of them claimed to be socialists, secularists and intellectuals. That is the tragedy of our State. Where do you find a State in India where you have a salubrious climate over more than half its geographical area? Further, our State is also blessed with a coastline having potential for building commercially viable harbours.

I am just wondering, how our erstwhile rulers could do more than what our present rulers have done without the technological and financial advantage of the present day. Our political leaders, belonging to all the parties, not only keep fighting with the opposition parties for their share of votes but also fight among themselves for loaves and fishes of offices where there is scope for making illegal money. We have seen political leaders demanding certain Ministries like Finance, Excise, Industry, Irrigation and the like where there is great scope for corruption and to raise funds for the party, euphemism for looting the Treasury.

Now, why not our Karnataka politicians, to whatever party they belong, be like politicians of Gujarat? The Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi told in Kolkata on Oct. 12, 2008 that "We don't do politics over industrialization in Gujarat. Opposition Congress in Gujarat too has lent wholehearted support to the Nano coming to Gujarat." He also told the Press, taking a dig at the Bengal political leaders, belonging to all the parties, who are always belligerent and draggers-drawn, "to spare a thought for the development of the State unitedly."

Can Karnataka voters teach a lesson to our Karnataka political leaders (of all parties) to keep their personal agenda aside and spare a thought for the development of Karnataka unitedly? Please allow the BJP, which has legitimately come to power as per the Constitution of India, to rule the State with responsibility for a full term, while the opposition plays its role as a watchdog. If the opposition is engaged only in toppling the BJP Government, then, in a Parliamentary democracy, its role will be seriously undermined.

If the Congress and other opposition parties in Gujarat can live with Narendra Modi for so many years opposing him at every stage, except at the stage of Narendra Modi’s policies related to economic and industrial development of Gujarat, why not our Karnataka politicians ?

All the projects proposed and those underway must be enabled to be completed without let or hindrance, no matter which political party is in power. If Karnataka politicians do not behave themselves wisely, discriminating between what is good and what is not good for the State, the future of Karnataka may look bleak and will just remain a distant dream.