Bengaluru: Expressing his opinion on the current political turmoil and cold war between the leaders of the Congress-Janata Dal (S) state coalition, State Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar has lamented that the essence of mutual understanding and internal democracy had vanished.

Addressing a gathering after releasing the book ‘Cockpit of Indian Political Ballots–Karnataka’ authored by veteran journalist C M Ramachandra recently, Ramesh said, “It is sad to observe that in the current context, political parties have lost the very essence of trust and understanding. The democratic setup within the arena of politics has perished.”

“We have inculcated qualities of praising self and others, corrupt people wooing the leaders and many others, which has posed a threat to the democracy and similar situation is actually confronting us”, he added.

He said, “It is a dangerous development that we are observing in politics where right from panchayat to chief minister level, all want powers to remain with themselves, family and close associates. The decisions of ‘dynasty politics’ will not be accepted under the democratic setup.”

“If only one family keeps everything to itself, then what is the fate of others”, he added.

Meanwhile, he has criticised the media saying, “The media in the current context has long forgotten the principles of questioning.”