<p>Congratulations on becoming the 24th Chief Minister of the wonderful state of Karnataka. Yes, this is neither a boon nor a curse, but an opportunity to carve out a new style of politics in the state, drawing from the best traditions of your predecessors, but also responding immediately to the urgent demands of our times.</p>.<p>So we write this open letter to you, Mr D K Shivakumar, as an expression of hope that in the two years remaining until the next Assembly elections, you will shape Karnataka as a model state and ensure continuity in governance.</p>.<p>The next two years can be a time when party members are allowed to ‘reap’ rewards for themselves. Or they can set the pace for a new Karnataka – guaranteeing its citizens the long-promised justice, equality, and protection of its precious cultural, social, and political heritage. You can make that difference by forging a new social and political contract in the state and involving its people.</p>.Stability must follow leadership reset.<p>Most urgently, the impending Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls should not be allowed to achieve what it has done in states such as Bihar and West Bengal. We are acutely aware of its goals: to shift the burden of proving the right to reside and vote in this country to citizens, to disenfranchise lakhs of Indian voters, and thereby deny them their political existence and a social and economic life. Karnataka must fight tooth and nail – legally and politically – against this sinister attempt to reverse the provisions of our Constitution and the rights it grants every citizen.</p>.<p>The government must recognise the threats climate change and now El Niño pose to millions of people and bioregions. The dominant real-estate agenda must not be allowed to engulf our ecological balance and the right of future generations to a rich and varied environment.</p>.<p>Karnataka has been the pioneer in women’s reservations: now, we must step up this legacy. No, it is not at all necessary for women’s reservation to be linked to the Census or delimitation. There must be no conditions for bringing more women into public political life. The acknowledgement of women’s right to reservation, and the training for the 2028 elections, must earnestly begin now. Greater inclusion in political life should be the next guarantee for the women of Karnataka.</p>.<p>The federal structure that the writers of our Constitution forged is being eroded. The time has come for the aggressive re-assertion of the state’s rights – to determine what it wants to give its citizens and how it will be accountable to them. Karnataka must remind the Government of India that the nation is a Union of states. Policies related to education and agriculture must reflect the state’s requirements. Karnataka must reject delimitation as the basis for determining its presence in Parliament. It must take a strong stand against the apportioning of the state’s share in Central finances and form a committee on Centre-state relations to rightfully claim what the Constitution guarantees.</p>.<p>Inclusion and sustainability</p>.<p>Karnataka can imagine and forge a new path to development. The entire state cannot be brought under the Greater Bengaluru Authority. Instead, leave a historic mark on Bengaluru by adding one large park, rather than towers and tunnels. We have not had a single such addition since the 19th century.</p>.<p>The government must listen with respect to experts who recommend alternative and sustainable modes of development, and with empathy to farmers fighting for their livelihoods. You can set Karnataka on a different path that will provide opportunities for the young across the state. The gig economy is not the solution to unemployment. Decentralised democracy and alternative visions of development that ensure the well-being of all citizens can be the template on which a new Karnataka model can emerge.</p>.<p>There are other urgent responsibilities, but we add one more: it is upon you to ensure peace and equality among all communities residing in this state, a true shantiya thota. It is important that you politically counter, in every step, the dangerous and violent assertions being made against sections of the Indian people in other states. The success of the state government’s five guarantees can be celebrated, but only when the other promises – to roll back the regressive anti-cattle slaughter and anti-conversion legislations – have been fulfilled.</p>.<p>The people of Karnataka deserve the government they voted for in 2023.</p>.<p>(Janaki is a retired professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Vasavi is a social anthropologist)</p><p><em>(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH).</em></p>
<p>Congratulations on becoming the 24th Chief Minister of the wonderful state of Karnataka. Yes, this is neither a boon nor a curse, but an opportunity to carve out a new style of politics in the state, drawing from the best traditions of your predecessors, but also responding immediately to the urgent demands of our times.</p>.<p>So we write this open letter to you, Mr D K Shivakumar, as an expression of hope that in the two years remaining until the next Assembly elections, you will shape Karnataka as a model state and ensure continuity in governance.</p>.<p>The next two years can be a time when party members are allowed to ‘reap’ rewards for themselves. Or they can set the pace for a new Karnataka – guaranteeing its citizens the long-promised justice, equality, and protection of its precious cultural, social, and political heritage. You can make that difference by forging a new social and political contract in the state and involving its people.</p>.Stability must follow leadership reset.<p>Most urgently, the impending Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls should not be allowed to achieve what it has done in states such as Bihar and West Bengal. We are acutely aware of its goals: to shift the burden of proving the right to reside and vote in this country to citizens, to disenfranchise lakhs of Indian voters, and thereby deny them their political existence and a social and economic life. Karnataka must fight tooth and nail – legally and politically – against this sinister attempt to reverse the provisions of our Constitution and the rights it grants every citizen.</p>.<p>The government must recognise the threats climate change and now El Niño pose to millions of people and bioregions. The dominant real-estate agenda must not be allowed to engulf our ecological balance and the right of future generations to a rich and varied environment.</p>.<p>Karnataka has been the pioneer in women’s reservations: now, we must step up this legacy. No, it is not at all necessary for women’s reservation to be linked to the Census or delimitation. There must be no conditions for bringing more women into public political life. The acknowledgement of women’s right to reservation, and the training for the 2028 elections, must earnestly begin now. Greater inclusion in political life should be the next guarantee for the women of Karnataka.</p>.<p>The federal structure that the writers of our Constitution forged is being eroded. The time has come for the aggressive re-assertion of the state’s rights – to determine what it wants to give its citizens and how it will be accountable to them. Karnataka must remind the Government of India that the nation is a Union of states. Policies related to education and agriculture must reflect the state’s requirements. Karnataka must reject delimitation as the basis for determining its presence in Parliament. It must take a strong stand against the apportioning of the state’s share in Central finances and form a committee on Centre-state relations to rightfully claim what the Constitution guarantees.</p>.<p>Inclusion and sustainability</p>.<p>Karnataka can imagine and forge a new path to development. The entire state cannot be brought under the Greater Bengaluru Authority. Instead, leave a historic mark on Bengaluru by adding one large park, rather than towers and tunnels. We have not had a single such addition since the 19th century.</p>.<p>The government must listen with respect to experts who recommend alternative and sustainable modes of development, and with empathy to farmers fighting for their livelihoods. You can set Karnataka on a different path that will provide opportunities for the young across the state. The gig economy is not the solution to unemployment. Decentralised democracy and alternative visions of development that ensure the well-being of all citizens can be the template on which a new Karnataka model can emerge.</p>.<p>There are other urgent responsibilities, but we add one more: it is upon you to ensure peace and equality among all communities residing in this state, a true shantiya thota. It is important that you politically counter, in every step, the dangerous and violent assertions being made against sections of the Indian people in other states. The success of the state government’s five guarantees can be celebrated, but only when the other promises – to roll back the regressive anti-cattle slaughter and anti-conversion legislations – have been fulfilled.</p>.<p>The people of Karnataka deserve the government they voted for in 2023.</p>.<p>(Janaki is a retired professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Vasavi is a social anthropologist)</p><p><em>(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH).</em></p>
