BJP's Southern Foray: Tale of scams and
compromises
Monday March 19, 2012 04:57:12 PM,
V.S.
Karnic, IANS
|
|
|
Bangalore:
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) maiden rule in Karnataka is set
to end as a sordid tale of scandals and compromises.
Two days ahead of the budget presentation, more than half the
party's 23 ministers are holed up in a resort on the outskirts of
Bangalore, devising a strategy to get rid of Chief Minister D.V.
Sadananda Gowda. The assembly session starts Tuesday. The budget
presentation is scheduled the next day.
Giving them company are scores of party legislators, all wanting
the return of B.S. Yeddyurappa as chief minister though he still
faces nearly a dozen corruption and illegal land deal cases.
He has been summoned by a Supreme Court appointed panel to appear
before it in person or send a representative Tuesday to answer
charges of making several hundred crore rupees by favouring iron
ore mining companies.
The panel, the Central Empower Committee appointed by the apex
court to study illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh, is to decide whether the charges against Yeddyurappa need
to be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
However grave these issues may appear to the people, for
Yeddyurappa, largely credited with bringing BJP into power for the
first time in south India in May 2008, they are of no consequence
as his sole aim is to be chief minister.
This unbridled hankering after power has been given a boost by the
reported division of opinion among the national leaders on
reinstating him.
It is generally believed that BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and a few
other central leaders do not mind Yeddyurappa coming back as chief
minister.
But his return is said to be strongly opposed by senior leader L.K.
Advani, who fears this will further damage the party's image and
take the sting out of its campaign against the scandals of the
Congress-led central government.
Yeddyurappa claims he was asked by the national leaders to quit
July 31, 2011 with the promise that he will be brought back if a
court clears him of charges of taking money from mining companies
in return for favours.
Then Lokayukta (ombudsman) N. Santosh Hegde had July 27
recommended Yeddyurappa's trial on the ground that his family
members had received Rs.30 crore from two mining companies. This
amounted to corruption.
The high court on March 7 quashed the Lokayukta findings and also
the case against Yeddyurappa, which he has seized to demand that
party national leaders honour their word.
The national leaders appear to be paying for the compromise
formula they devised to make Yedddyurappa quit, though by that
time he was already facing six cases of corruption and illegal
land deals filed by two Bangalore advocates.
Both he and the party dismiss these cases as politically
motivated.
Yeddyurappa's lucky -- the institution of the Lokayukta in
Karnataka, the first state to set it up, has been headless since
September and there is no one to decide whether to challenge the
high court ruling in the Supreme Court.
There are two Upa Lokayuktas (deputy ombudsmen) S.B. Majage and
Chandrashekaraiah (only one name). While Chandrashekaraiah has
said the high court verdict should be challenged, Majage is
silent.
BJP's rule in Karnataka began with several compromises - over
ministry formation and giving all five independents who helped the
party gain majority in the assembly cabinet berths.
Then followed rebellion, twice, by mining baron Reddys against
Yeddyurappa.
At least 20 of BJP's 120 legislators have been involved in scams -
from rape to porn viewing to illegal land deals.
As BJP enters last year of its first term in office, it is
Yeddyurappa's turn to don the mantle of the rebel.
(V.S. Karnic
can be contacted at vs.karnic@ians.in)
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |

Dinesh Trivedi finally bows, agrees to quit
Ending days of stalemate, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi Sunday
agreed to quit after speaking with his Trinamool Congress party
chief Mamata Banerjee, a short while before an annoyed Banerjee
boarded a flight
»
Trinamool asks Trivedi to go, he wants
Mamata's written order
Angry
Mamata tells PM to replace Trivedi by Mukul Roy
|
|
Most Read |
India to vote against Sri Lanka: PM
Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said the government was "intending"
to vote in favour of the US-backed resolution against Sri
»
Sri Lanka Muslims rally to protest Western
intervention
|
Court quashes proceedings against Microsoft India
The Delhi
High Court Monday quashed charges of hosting objectionable content
against Microsoft India and set aside a trial court order for
initiating criminal proceedings against the company for lack of
evidence.
Setting aside the proceedings, Justice Suresh Kait said: "There is
no
»
|
|
News Pick |
Bosnian walks to Makkah for Hajj
Fulfilling one of Islam’s main pillars, a Bosnian
man has embarked on the life-time spiritual journey of hajj,
preparing himself to cross thousands of miles on foot, The Muslim
Village
»
|
Indian call centres selling Britons' personal
data: Report
Indian call
centres are selling confidential personal data, including credit
card details and medical records, of over 500,000 Britons, a media
report said Sunday. Citing an undercover investigation by The
Sunday Times, the
»
|
Occupy
protesters clash with New York police
Clashes and arrests in Zuccotti Park
as 'Occupy' activists mark six months since birth of
anti-corporate greed movement. Police and activists have clashed
at a park in New York where hundreds of people had gathered to
»
|
|
Picture of the Day |
 |
Union Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee giving final touches to the General
Budget 20112-13, in New Delhi on March 15, 2012. Minister of
State for Finance Namo Narain Meena and the Secretaries of the
Ministry are also seen. |
|
|
|