Sick of the gudiya-budiya row, Bangalore's intelligentsia support the poll panel's decision to curb politicians' foul talk
Prof Ki Ram Nagaraj, writer and former head of the Kannada department at Bangalore University (centre)
Sick of the gudiya-budiya row, Bangalore's intelligentsia support the poll panel's decision to curb politicians' foul talk
The Election Commission's dictat against personal insults during poll campaigning has found support among Bangalore's intelligentsia.
Following the gudiya-budiya slanging match between Narendra Modi (BJP) and Priyanka Gandhi (Congress), the commission advised politicians to mind their language.
Would that curb free speech and render our elections colourless, or make our politicians more responsible? MiD DAY asked around, and this is what prominent citizens said.
"My view may sound orthodox or conventional. Universal expectation is that the elections should be fair candidates should not use unparliamentary words," said M F Saldanha.
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He said political leaders should never get personal. "It is against ethics and society, and decorum has to be maintained in public places," the retired high court judge, remembered for his pro-citizen judgments, said.
He said any candidate who crosses the "bounds of decency" should be disqualified. "Such things are on the rise because action has not been taken against anyone," he said.
Actress Anusha, who stars in the recent Kannada comedy Venkata in Sankata, said, "This is common in politics and the election authorities should let it go. But ideally. personal rivalry should not come into politcs and the fight should be fair and legal."
Cricketers' take
Former Ranji cricketer Chandramouli Kanavi said, "The commission can't ban it but can only recommendu00a0 action against people using abusive words in public."
He also blamed 24x7 news channels for the increase in abuse.
"Leaders take advantage and talk just to get publicity," he told MiD DAY.
Former Indian cricketer Vijay Bharadwaj said, "This war of words is ridiculous. These people should focus on their agenda instead of wasting time in fighting," he said.
Bar them
Prof Ki Ram Nagaraj, writer and former head of the Kannada department at Bangalore University, said, "The Election Commission is an independent body and can take action against any leader talking foul. Physical and verbal assaults are the same. Abusive leaders should be barred from contesting elections."
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