Politics of patronage, a threat To democracy: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today that the capitulation of Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yedyurappa to the Gali brothers underlined the ugly clout of moneybags in contemporary politics.

In a statement, Dr. JP deplored that the BJP central leadership had succumbed to the anti-Yedyurappa lobby in its bid to cling onto power in the southern State. “Those who have enriched themselves with State patronage are today emboldened to dictate politics.”

Dr. JP said it was time the national parties reviewed the politics of patronage before the forces they had either wittingly or unwittingly unleashed gobble them up and spell the death-knell of democracy. It was the politics of patronage that enabled former Jarkhand Minister for Mines and Chief Minister to amass billions of rupees.

Dr. JP said, “Whether it is the allocation of telecom spectrum or mining rights the first-come-first-served policy is arbitrary, irrational and collusive. I, therefore, demand that all such allocations be straightway cancelled and fresh allocations made to the highest bidders on the basis of international competitive bidding.”

On the developments in the Maharashtra Assembly, Dr. JP said, the Maharashtra Navnirman legislators who attacked a Samajwadi legislator for taking oath in Hindi should be expelled from the House for their unbecoming and anti-constitutional conduct.