IBNLive Chat: 'Karnataka Inc looking forward to stability'

IBNLive Chat: Manipal Education CEO Sudarashan answers IBNLive readers' questions.

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A clear and decisive verdict from Karnataka's electorate would bring political stability and help business too, says Anand Sudarshan, MD and CEO of Manipal Education.

Shashidhar: If you were heading the government, can you list the priorities and the goals for the next 10 years growth?

Anand Sudarshan: Shashidhar, my priorities will be education for all, sustainable economic growth (given the amount of environmental damage we are causing), and building a fair society that is founded on equity and merit. I believe these three (I limited myself to three) priorities will address many (if not most) of the challenges we face today.

Potineni Gopalakrishna: I think commitment to cause is more important than stability. Let us go back down the memory lane and recollect how Hegde's minority government performed. I think to a certain extent, in recent times, HDK-led government worked satisfactorily. Please comment.

Anand Sudarshan: Gopalakrishna, you are correct. Commitment to cause, supported by a foundation of ethical behaviour in supporting / being a part of / being in the opposition of coalition governments is far more important than just a majority. I don't see the former happening too easily, it might be higher probability of getting good government if we had a majority government, I think.

PMN: Can we expect some development done in the Mumbai and Hyderabad-Karnataka regions?

Anand Sudarshan: I hope so, I have mentioned in my earlier replies the importance I place to overall development of the state - North and North-west Karnataka are certainly a part of it.

SP: Where will the growing inflation stop? The spending / purchasing power of the middle class has increased. What is your suggestion to the new government to cope up with the current scenario?

Anand Sudarshan: Inflation, unfortunately, is currently a global phenomenon - its driven by high energy (oil) costs, sudden increase in food grain costs due to lower availability, and also higher costs of several other things like metals and cement. Controlling inflation quickly is a key task of the government at the centre (which, of course, being a coalition government with outside support, is getting pulled all around), and I hope they are able to make an impact quickly.