By P.T. Bopanna
Unlike previous Lok Sabha members from Kodagu, the present Lok Sabha member Yaduveer Wadiyar, a scion of the Mysuru royal family, is truly working for the people of his constituency.
This is in sharp contrast with the previous Lok Sabha member Pratap Simha, who practiced divisive politics. The BJP was right in denying Simha the party ticket to contest from Kodagu-Mysuru Lok Sabha seat.
On February 28, Yaduveer led a students march to Kushalanagar to urge the government against the closure of the nascent Kodagu University.
Yaduveer blamed the Congress government in the state for the mess in the education department. He said: “The state government has totally mismanaged the finances and as a result, the universities are being closed. Government universities are the rays of hope for students from middle and lower middle class families who want to pursue postgraduate studies.”
Yaduveer successfully championed the cause of black pepper growers of Kodagu and prevailed upon Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to exempt the crop from GST.
Earlier, he recalled that the Wadiyars and Kodavas bravely fought Mysuru rulers Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.
The BJP in Karnataka has finally a leader who does not indulge in hate politics. The saffron party has a lesson to learn from Yaduveer. Communal politics may work in some of the northern states, but does not go down well with the peace-loving people of Karnataka.
The previous Lok Sabha member Simha who indulged in hate politics, had verbally abused this reporter in a Facebook talk show for opposing him on the proposed introduction of railway line in Kodagu. In a democratic set up, a journalist should be allowed to function independently.
In a way, Kodagu is now fortunate to have responsible MLAs and a gentleman Lok Sabha member.
