Upper Bhadra: CM vows to fulfil SN's wish

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, AUG. 9. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, today committed himself to fulfilling the principal wish of Mr. S.Nijalingappa to bring water to his native Chitradurga District through the proposed Upper Bhadra Project.

He and the Congress(I) leaders paid glowing tributes to the memory of Mr. Nijalingappa at a "Quit India" anniversary function held at the KPCC(I) office, and said that he would be remembered for the high standards of integrity he upheld in public life. The function was turned into one to pay glowing tributes to the qualities of head and heart of Mr. Nijalingappa. Forgotten on the occasion was the political bitterness of the Seventies borne by the followers of Indira Gandhi towards Mr. Nijalingappa. Some of the speakers even claimed that Mr. Nijalingappa never bore any personal illwill towards Indira Gandhi.

Mr. Krishna said that it was not Mr. Nijalingappa's desire to become the President of India or the Prime Minister. His concern was to bring water to the parched lands of Chitradurga District and help the farmers and the others. His Government would take up the project. Mr. Krishna said that he was feeling the same way as he did when his father, S.C.Mallaiah, passed away. Nijalingappa and his father were great friends.

The Chief Minister was seen fighting tears when he spoke of the magnanimity of the departed leader. He recalled that in 1962 when he entered the Legislative Assembly for the first time and was still a bachelor, Mr. Nijalingappa who was then the Chief Minister, had even suggested a bride for him. Mr. Krishna spoke of the cordial reception he had given to the AICC(I) President, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, when she called on him at his Chitradurga residence last year. Mr. Nijalingappa presented a copy of the Constitution stating that he was one of the signatories to it. She should concern herself with the Directive Principles of State Policy, he told her.

The Chief Minister said that Mr. Nijalingappa was never vindictive towards those who opposed him. He had himself opposed him politically right from 1962. Even in those days politics had been vitiated and canards were being used to level allegations. Mr. Krishna said that one such was that Mr. Nijalingappa had built a row of seven houses in Rajajinagar in Bangalore City. "At that time I too had believed it." It later became known how hollow it was. He recalled that he had himself twitted Mr. Nijalingappa in 1962 after his election to the Assembly in a byelection from Bagalkot that he had come through the backdoor.

Mr. Krishna said Mr. Nijalingappa turned out to be the only Chief Minister not to own a site, not to speak of a house in Bangalore. He was also the only former Chief Minister who did not settle down in Bangalore. He returned to his home town Chitradurga and only visited Bangalore. Mr. Nijalingappa would be remembered for gigantic projects such as the Sharavathi and Kali hydro-electric projects and the Upper Krishna Project.

It was the former Railway minister and MP, Mr. C.K.Jaffer Sharief, who reminded the Chief Minister about the wish of Mr. Nijalingappa for taking up the Upper Bhadra Project. He came to work under Mr. Nijalingappa at Chitradurga when he was just a boy. He was always impressed by Mr. Nijalingappa's ideals. Mr. Nijalingappa was one of those responsible for the reorganisation of the State. Mr. Sharief regretted that Mr. Nijalingappa could not rise higher in the public life of the country. He sacrificed his interests for the sake of others and built up a second line of leadership. It was unfortunate that some of those who were close to Mr. Nijalingappa misused his position and he came to be dubbed as a casteist.

The Chairman of the State's Administrative Reforms Commission, Mr. Haranahalli Ramaswamy, recalled the sacrifices made by Mr. Nijalingappa during the freedom movement and his role in building up the Congress in the State. The Congress(I) should be inspired by the standards he had set. Mr. Ramaswamy also said that the Congress(I) should concern itself with national issues and not hanker after office.

The KPCC(I) President, Mr. V.S.Koujalgi, spoke of the affection and respect with which Mr. Nijalingappa used to treat people who were junior to him.

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