BJP Govt in Trouble

An alarmed BJP has asked its CM to come clean on the charges. A defiant Yeddyurappa has, instead, challenged his political rivals to topple him

With rising political instability, it is becoming clear that Karnataka could soon go the Jharkhand way. Its  scam-tainted Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa faces a fresh round of dissidence that may cost him his chair and leave the state open to a new ruling dispensation. The Governor has already asked him to prove his majority by 12 October, after 20 BJP MLAs and independents withdrew their support to his government. Toppling games in Karnataka started with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s son, HD Kumaraswamy, walking out of a Congress coalition and aligning with the BJP in 2005. Later, when Kumaraswamy did not hand over the CM’s gaddi to the BJP, as agreed, it led to polls in May 2008 and the BJP’s forming its first government in the south. A year later, the Reddy brothers almost toppled Yeddyurappa. And now, when things seemed to be going calmly, the opposition has accused the CM and his ministers of being part of a land scam and another rebellion has surfaced. 

Yeddyurappa has been meeting RSS leaders and liaising with mediators to bring about a truce. But, he still has the opposition to contend with, as some of the charges could stick. The CM has been accused of denotifying land worth crores of rupees to favour his sons, sons-in-law and close associates. The allegations pertain to Bangalore Development Authority, which routinely issues notifications acquiring large parcels of land to form residential layouts. In some of these notifications, the opposition alleges, the CM’s family forged agreements with land losers and then got the land denotified using their clout. “This is a criminal offence and we demand that the CM put in his papers,” says Kumaraswamy, while the Congress has given ‘documentary evidence’ to the Governor and sought the Karnataka government’s dismissal.

The opposition’s campaign has alarmed the BJP’s central leadership, which has asked the CM to come clean. Yeddyurappa has responded by making public the list of land denotified by previous CMs, particularly Kumaraswamy, and dared his rivals to topple his government.

But the diversionary tactic may not work as there are several inconsistencies in the denotification, some of which could even attract judicial scrutiny. The allegations are also ill-timed for the CM, whose close cabinet mates Ramachandra Gowda and Katta Subramanya Naidu have been accused of corruption. While Gowda resigned in the wake of an employment scam, Naidu’s son, a corporator, was arrested by the Lok Ayukta for trying to buy silence in another denotification scam.

With the opposition actively seeking to shore up its numbers, Yeddyurappa’s supporters claim that the Governor is acting like a (police) station house officer [SHO], recording all events and sending reports faithfully to the Centre.

They also suggest that BJP National General Secretary and Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar is orchestrating the rebellion. “Kumar’s only ambition is to become the CM,” said an ally of the CM.

If Yeddyurappa does not keep his family members from interfering in the administration and fails to hold the party together, the central leadership may not be averse to replacing him, warns a senior party leader. “If that happens, even the RSS cannot save him,” an MP, who does not want to be named, says.

About The Author

Anil Budur Lulla