Support grows for Narayana Murthy

Support grows for Narayana Murthy

NDTV

Support is growing for Infosys Chief Mentor NR Narayana Murthy, a day after he resigned from the board overseeing the Bangalore International Airport.

Many residents of Bangalore, along with business and political leaders, say that Murthy is an honest man who could make things happen – including the long-stalled international airport.

Murthy's abrupt resignation from the board came as a hurt response to criticism from former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

Deve Gowda, a JD(S) leader and member of Karnataka's ruling coalition, had charged that Murthy didn't do enough for the airport project.

On October 11, Gowda wrote to Chief Minister Dharam Singh, questioning the contribution of the Information Technology industry in general and Narayana Murthy in particular.

"I know how Narayana Murthy works, all this talk of magic is not easy to do. When I stepped down as PM he was still the Chairman and could take decisions regarding the international airport, so why didn't he?" Deve Gowda wrote.

Coalition compulsions

The Karnataka CM has made it clear, while acknowledging Murthy's contribution, that he has politics to consider.

"This is the first time in Karnataka [that] there is a coalition government. Obviously if my coalition partner makes an allegation, I have to make an inquiry. That does not mean we want to hurt Narayana Murthy's feelings," the CM said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka's IT businesses are desperate for the international airport to come up quickly. While they say they understand Murthy's point of view, many business leaders feel that now is the time for compromise.

Vinay Deshpande, the Chairman and CEO of Encore Software, says: "Anyone in his position will probably be upset if you are being singled out and pointed fingers too."

But Deshpande argues that everybody in the situation needs to compromise.

"It is not just for Murthy to have a rethink – it is time that everyone involved should have a rethink," he explains.

At the same time, the Encore CEO also concedes that projects of this scale cannot depend on a single individual.

"Obviously his being there would contribute a lot to the progress of the project, but his not being there is not going to affect the project too adversely," he says.

Questions raised

Many Bangaloreans view Narayana Murthy as a forward-thinking person, in contrast to his political critics.

"Narayana Murthy is giving a progressive view of what he wanted to do, but that is a regressive view that Deve Gowda is taking," one city resident says.

Clearly, the resignation of Narayana Murthy has been a disappointment to his fellow Bangalore residents and business leaders.

While Murthy's resignation may not ultimately have a huge impact on the progress of a vital project, it does raise questions about the government's commitment to shared public-private initiatives.