The Nikhil Gowda story

Nikhil Gowda's statements, supposedly made in the presence of his father - the CM, raise more questions than they answer.

Were the statements about 'drag racing', purpotedly made at the specific instance of the father, supposed to be in the form of a confessional? If they were, they didnt quite come across that way. There was no hint of an apology at all for a blatanly illegal activity. On the contrary, there was a hint of arrogance in the brag about his passion for fast cars. OK - the 'Hummer' may not have been his. But, even as a teenager, he still claims to possess some 5 fancy cars. While the source of such wealth is for the IT to bother with, it is astonishing the way the father and the grandfather, who claim to champion the causes of the poor, have been acquiesing in such indulgences of their progeny.

On the other hand, the children of some of Bangalore's IT czars, I know, readily travel by the BMTC buses.

Further, this progeny of the self-proclaimed 'sons of the soil', cannot read Kannada! - height of double standards, if you are looking for one.

And then, there is the attempt to palm off the entire blaim on this Syed Ehtesham of a 'guy', who had apparently been planted by the political opponents to malign the family - a story rather difficult to swallow.

All in all, this incident, apart from the many that have preceded it, clearly shows up the first family of Karnataka for what it really is. If we are ever to achieve 'Suvarna Karnataka', the first thing that needs to be done is to chuck this entire lot into the dustbins of history.