This Article is From Mar 31, 2014

Blog on The Bangalore Debate: Things Fall Apart

Bangalore: The concept was interesting. The four main candidates of the urban and relatively upmarket Bangalore South all together on one platform, answering questions on their policies and targets. And taking questions from the audience - their potential voters.

I arrived for the event at a women's college in Bangalore with a plan of covering the entire debate for a one hour programme on our channel. The response was good - and earnest South Bangaloreans were filing in and filling up the few hundred seats in the auditorium.

The candidates arrived: IT billionaire - Nandan Nilekani - co-founder of Infosys and a newcomer to politics. Nina Nayak - a woman who has spent 30 years working in the field of child welfare and is representing the new kid on the block, the Aam Aadmi Party. Ruth Manorama from the Janata Dal Secular - she has worked for years in the field of women's rights and Dalit welfare. And the sitting MP, Ananth Kumar from the BJP, who has won the seat five times in a row and is hoping to hit a sixer. He walked in to the chants of his supporters - making a grander entrance than his trio of opponents.

There was a sense of excitement and optimism as the four candidates shook hands and settled down to answer questions.

The first question was posed by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon - whose group B.PAC - the Bangalore Political Action Committee - had organised the event. Candidates were asked to tackle unplanned urbanisation.

Ananth Kumar made his points and sat down. Nandan Nilekani got up to speak - and after an opening line in Kannada - he continued in English. That is when things began to get out of hand.

Chants from the crowd demanded that he speak in Kannada. People rushed towards the stage and the discussion came to a halt. Ananth Kumar finally had to intervene and ask the people to calm down. "I appeal to everyone to let the programme go forward peacefully. He will try to speak in Kannada. Otherwise in any language he can," he told the crowd in his own fluent Kannada.

Nilekani obliged and continued in Kannada with a mix of English. The speakers who followed used the same formula although they had also planned to speak in English. But they did try to get the point across about linguistic tolerance.

Ruth Manorama of the Janata Dal (Secular) said, "Please listen to me with patience. I will mix Kannada and English." She was also shouted down for a while, but another intervention from Ananth Kumar and Nandan Nilekani allowed her to proceed.

AAP's Nina Nayak said, "My mother tongue is Konkani. Can I speak in that?" The audience laughed and she went on to say that due to her father's transferrable job she knew eight languages - and would it be alright to speak in any of those?

Point made - she continues in Kannada mixed with English.

Language can be a touchy subject across India - and Bangalore, with Kannadigas now just an estimated 30 per cent of the city's population, has seen its share of tension on the issue.

The debate continues smoothly after that for a short stretch.

When it came to Ananth Kumar's turn to talk of his priorities, he began to make a speech against the 10 years of UPA rule. Requests from the moderators to stick to the subjects failed to work - and then the event unspooled.

An angry Congress worker marched towards the stage shouting. He was joined by others. BJP workers rushed to take them on. Cacophony at the front of the hall. While the residents who had come to listen to their candidates watched in dismay, things got so bad that I hope there would be no violence.

It became obvious that the debate would not be allowed to go any further. We took the camera and I did an on camera report with the chaos in the background. Then I turned to talk to the bewildered and disappointed voters.

Some responses:

"This is not Bangalore. This is not what we Bangaloreans believe is Bangalore. I am very shocked."

"I have been a South Banglorean for the past 27 years and this is the first time I am witnessing a scene like this. We have lost a wonderful opportunity to express our views and ask something of our candidates so that eventually we can hold them to account. We lost that opportunity."

We pushed through the crowd of party workers to talk to Ananth Kumar and Nandan Nilekani. Mr Kumar blamed the Congress for disrupting the show. Mr Nilekani blamed his opponent for not sticking to the topic.

A huge opportunity was squandered. For every major election, we ask why the main candidates won't engage in a debate, take questions from the public, explain their stands on issues while sharing a stage.

Gentler critics say what transpired in Bangalore can be chalked down to the passion that politics evokes in the country - but that is no consolation to those who came for a serious discussion to help them decide who they should vote for.

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