I have to introspect, says outgoing Chief Minister Krishna
SM Krishna's efforts to snatch back the IT glory for Bangalore from Naidu's Cyberabad contributed to the defeat of his Government.
Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna's exit from power may not be as dramatic as his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, but his efforts to snatch back the IT glory for capital Bangalore from Chandrababu Naidu's Cyberabad contributed to the defeat of his Government.
Beating Naidu in his own game of generating hype, Krishna got investment proposals to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore in the Global Investors Meet (GIM) within a year of occupying office projecting Karnataka as an investment destination, but soon found wanting for the promised money coming, as it was ahead of a economic downturn.
Though there were huge promises for IT investment, it was hit by the dotcom burst followed by the technology downturn that saw a vacuum in investments. But it picked up rapidly in the later part of his tenure as Bangalore gained attention with India becoming the preferred offhsore destinations by global IT firms.
For Krishna's credit, his BATF, the public private partnership in urban governance became a model that is being replicated in other Indian cities.
Krishna, who held the finance portfolio, tried to improve the fiscal situation of the state with the Medium Term Fiscal Reforms, which was even lauded by World Bank Chief, but could not hold on due to drought, which hit the state for three consecutive years.
"I have to introspect", Krishna said after the electorate rejected his Government, virtually admitting his neglect of the rural areas and urban centric governance cost him the job.
The fulbright scholar continued the IT.COM launched by his predecessor, and also launched Bangalore Bio, to promote Biotechnology, but thrust on the new economy sectors resulted in neglect of the manufacturing sector.
Some of the IT projects like Bhoomi, the land record computerisation programme and Khajane, the treasury management project were a success, but "BangaloreOne", the citizen delivery portal turned a cropper despite a high profile launch by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.