Our Defence Minister visited Kodagu district to take stock of the situation and see how the Defence personnel were performing. Unfortunately, her visit became more about her ego than about Kodagu disaster. By now we all know about Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s outburst at the press conference. But what caused this? It seems, when the Defence Minster was taking too much time talking with some ex-servicemen, Kodagu District Minister S. R. Mahesh politely suggested that it would be better if she first finished meeting with the Field Officers so they can go back to their rescue duties and after that she can give more time for the veterans. This irked the Union Minister and by the time she sat before the media she was seething and heard saying, “Central Minister follows the District Minister here. Unbelievable!” In an attempt to end the embarrassment, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha informed Sitharaman that the microphones were turned on, to which the angry Minister said, “Let it get recorded,” and in a mocking tone and sarcastic expression told the media “record karloo.” In this episode, S.R. Mahesh came out as a mature leader. He was respectful of the Union Minister even when she was not. In the end, what did Kodagu get from Sitharaman’s visit? Rs. 1 crore from MP Fund, Rs. 7 crore from the military CSR Fund while her behaviour made us question if she had the right ‘temperament’ to be a Defence Minister? Yes, Sitharaman was being egotistical and because of it she breached the propriety expected of a Union Minister. While the Minister told the Kodagu DC and District Minister, “You people should have sorted out your differences before I came,” may be she should have applied the same rule to herself — “sort out your differences before you come before the media.” It’s ironic that the same Defence Minister, when Rahul Gandhi asked about the Rafale deal said, “I don’t want to satisfy Rahul Gandhi’s ego and reveal details of avionics.” Well, she doesn’t want to satisfy Rahul Gandhi’s ego, but she wants S.R. Mahesh to satisfy her ego by being a subservient State-level Minister and follow the Great Union Minister who has descended from Delhi? Luckily, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has a better temperament. He publicly apologised for the “inconvenience” caused to her and reminded her that “I believe this is the time for all of us to forget small differences and forgive each other and join hands for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people in Kodagu.” Kumaraswamy has always been one of the few political leaders with the right temperament for politics and has the ability to see the bigger picture.
