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The liquor baron - turned - Janata Party working president and the Rajya Sabha Member Dr. Vijaya Mallya, who is riding his Vijay Ratha throughout the State, was at his breakfast table when our correspondent landed in his room at Quality Inn Southern Star at around 8.30 on 13th August morning. He was enjoying the mouth watering Masala Dosa for which Mysore is famous, followed by a cup of hot coffee
as the interview progressed. His outbursts against the present day politicians poured straight from the "horse's mouth" with Masala and lot of smoke and fire as he lit his foreign cigar midway. His
friend and cine actor Sanjay Khan and his press secretary Ms. Tushita Patel (former editor of Bangalore Age section of The Asian Age) were silent spectators smiling occasionally over Mallya's humorous remarks. 
Is your party on the right track under your leadership?
Oh, yes…
A lot of youth of the state are excited. Our party is really doing well. Do you expect Mr. Siddaramaiha to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka?
(Laughs) I regularly
read with great interest the statements of these people, including Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda and Mr. Siddharamaiah. They are telling the people every now and then that Mr. Siddaramiah will be the next Chief Minister. What a rubbish
statement! When Mr. Siddharamaiah was the Deputy Chief Minister, what was his contribution to the people? He did nothing when he was in power. He was defeated despite enjoying the backing of his caste and enjoying all the benefits. He should properly
understand why did people defeat him in the last elections. People know that he did not deliver goods and hence they defeated him. Why
is former Prime Minister Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda after you?
Even as an MP Mr. Deve Gowda did not ask a single question in the Parliament. He did not answer a single question as a Prime Minister.
The most he could repeatedly say was that "I am a poor farmer…. I am a poor farmer…. I am the son of the soil." Did these statements benefit the poor farmers in any manner? When I ask these questions, they get annoyed. P. G. R. Sindhia says that yours is "horse culture" and theirs is "negilayogi" (farmer) culture. He described you as the buyer of Public Sector Undertakings.
That fellow, who rebelled against his own High Command, has no ethics to talk about me like this. He always claimed that "I am loyal to Hegde, I am loyal to Sharad Pawar." He even had sworn before me that he was loyal to Mr. Hegde. Now where is his loyalty? Will the merger of Janata Dal factions take place?
Every day they are talking about merger, merger, merger and merger. Do they know anything about merger? They can fool the people. But, they cannot fool me. Since two weeks they are going round announcing that the JD factions would merge on August 16. You see… parties will not merge only if
leaders merge. They are bluffing the people and the party workers.
Will the unified JD provide an alternative to the Congress?
You listen carefully what Mr. Deve Gowda is saying. He says that they will defeat the Congress and come to power. Now you understand who is power hungry. Here it is very clear that your leader wants only power. Sindhia has one step outside and one step inside. You know why he is joining JD (S). Your opponents say that you do not have political experience as you were in liquor business?
You need not be a career politician. It is a myth. What was Mr. Rajiv Gandhi? He was only a pilot, but he thrived in politics like
everyone else. People wanted a change. All these politicians with 25 years
of experience, 30 years and 40 years in public life…. They are nothing. Nowhere in the world leaders brag about their experience in public life. You will find this only here (India). You claimed that you are the true son of the soil and not Deve Gowda just because your helicopter crashed in a field. Was it a joke or you meant it seriously?
Why should I joke? I am serious. You see, earlier, since 15 days four helicopters crashed and people were killed. It is only we who survived the crash. You are forced to believe in God in such a situation. It was the soil that saved me. So, can I not be a son of the soil? (Naanu Mannina Maga
aagabarda?) Are you kick - starting your party campaign in
the city (Mysore) ?
(Smiling at the pun) it is not an election campaign. I have started building the party. I admit that I have not seen Karnataka State fully. Of course, I have
seen Bangalore, Mysore and Madikeri. That is why I am touring Karnataka to study the problems of farmers and the poor. Our party will find a solution to all these problems and we will come out with a different specific action plan, which will be called as "Vision of Karnataka." What about the allegations that you take over public sector undertaking?
The Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers had gone totally bankrupt. It had laboratory equipment worth Rs. 400 crores and it had suffered a loss of about Rs. 100 crore. The then Chief Minister late Veerendra Patil requested me to take over the unit. He told me that 85 percent of the farmers in Karnataka would suffer if it was closed. I bought it for a higher price. The Board of Directors of UB Company cautioned me repeatedly against taking over the unit. But see today, it is a debt-free company. You just see what service the company is rendering to the farmers all over the State. Mangala fertilizer has reached the houses of every villager. Every farmer knows the name Mangala and its manufacture. All these fellows (apparently JD leaders) only talk and do nothing. But do first and only then talk about it. Courtesy: Star of Mysore
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