Nothing will be in the interest of citizens in coalition govt: Hegde

A coalition government may not be in the interest of citizens, retired Supreme Court Judge Justice
N Santosh Hegde said on Monday, regretting the fact that voters in Karnataka had failed to elect a single party to rule the state.

The former Karnataka Lokayukta said he found nothing wrong in the Congress backing the JD(S) to form government to keep the BJP out of power. “That’s the political system today,” Hegde told PTI, also noting that the JD(S) had grabbed the opportunity offered by the Congress though it had attacked the party during campaigning.

“I do not know how long it [the coalition government] will last,” the former solicitor general of India added, pointing to various factors at play in running a government and how different caste interests had to be kept in mind.

Stating that he is an apolitical person with no connection to any party, Justice Hegde said it was unfortunate that voters had not chosen a single party “in spite of such a long period in democracy”.

It did not matter if the people elected “A or B or C” to power, he said, adding that a single party government can be blamed for mistakes or praised for good work. “Here (in the case of coalition government), nothing will be in the interest of citizens at large. It is a question of survival (for alliance government) and appeasement of a few, not appeasement of the state of Karnataka.”

Justice Hegde said he had seen all the parties -- BJP, Congress and JD(S) -- for a long time and there was no “difference” between them.

“I want a stable government in Karnataka. I only hope some sense will prevail among political parties,” he added.