| Published on 03-05-2007 In National |
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| Gowda-scripted thriller enthrals Karnataka |
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Written by
K. S. Dakshina Murthy |
When Deve Gowda is in his elements, there is never a dull moment. The former chief minister-prime minister is scripting another round of excitement for Karnataka's politics. And, as usual, the hero is his son, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. The villain: Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister-in-Waiting B S Yediyurappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The 24/7 politician that he is, Deve Gowda first scripted Kumaraswamy into power in February 2006, after covertly engineering a split within the Janata Dal (Secular). For the record, Gowda has consistently denied having anything to do with it. But subsequent developments that including a fatherly indulgence to his son's revolt and a virtual handing over of the JD(S) to the breakaway Kumaraswamy neutralised his denials.
If after the 2004 elections when the Karnataka electorate voted in a hung Assembly, had Kumaraswamy been elected leader of the JD(S)-Congress coalition, probably the revolt would not have happened. As it turned out, Gowda first isolated the previous Chief Minister S M Krishna and agreed to let the lightweight Dharam Singh take over as Chief Minister.
And then the break occurred. The JD(S) went with the BJP which had never earlier been in a position of power in the state. Gowda allowed his so-called secular party to align with the Hindutva-professing BJP. But he had to agree to one key BJP stipulation: The chief ministership would have to be shared between Kumaraswamy and the BJP's Yediyurappa.
That was fine as long as the son ascended the throne first. In October, Kumaraswamy will have to step down and allow Yediyurappa to take his place. And this is where the excitement begins. Again, the script-writer and his hero-son have begun a possible third act to the play.
Unhappy
Gowda occasionally lets out a public comment that he is unhappy with the BJP as it has prevented Kumaraswamy from delivering on his promises. Typically, this causes a flutter with BJP politicians twittering and speculating whether the coalition will last. And, equally typically, the Chief Minister steps in to douse tensions assuring the BJP that all agreements will be honoured, meaning he will allow Yediyurappa to take his place when the time comes.
If it had just remained in the realm of statements, counters and denials, it would have been dismissed as the ranting of an old man. But that is not the case. Gowda recently created a splash when he reportedly met Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Speculation reached a new pitch because such a meeting was pregnant with possibilities. Gowda denied he had met Ms Gandhi and the excitement dropped.
But since then, the political grapevine has continued to remain hot. Gowda is said to have tried to strike a deal with Ms Gandhi. In return for the Congress's support if he were to become a candidate for Vice-President of the country, Gowda would ditch the BJP and realign with the Congress, but with his son continuing to be the Chief Minister. No compromises on that.
The Congress president is said to have discussed with her colleagues in Karnataka and is said to have been interested. Local Congressmen too are in no mood for elections which are at least two years away.
There are other reasons for worry as well, both in the JD(S) and Congress camps. The fear is if the BJP is allowed to have a run of power until the next elections, it will provide enough opportunity for the party to get a hold of the state machinery, consolidate and spread its hold over influential sections of the electorate.
Saffron taint
In the recent budget engineered by Yediyurappa, who also holds the finance portfolio, allocations were made to religious sub-groupings and Hindu entities close to the Sangh Parivar's worldview. The JD(S), incidentally, was unable to check the proposals. The saffron-tainted budget proposals were seen as a clear indication that the BJP would lose no opportunity to make itself more palatable when given a chance.
From a clear position of underdog in Karnataka politics, the situation at the moment is just right for the BJP to catapult into a contender for power when elections are held next. The JD(S) and the Congress would like to block this possibility.
If the JD(S) reneges on its "gentlemanly" agreement to allow Yediyurappa into the chief minister's post, the BJP could play martyr and hope to garner sympathy votes. Either way the BJP is in with a key advantage.
So the script that Gowda, the JD(S) and the Congress are working on is fairly tricky. Ideally for them, the theme should be to ensure that the BJP is out in the cold, it gains no sympathy from the electorate, Kumaraswamy or at least his brother H D Revanna is in power, the Congress backs the JD(S) and all well that ends well for the Gowda family.
And, more importantly, hope that the electorate does not begrudge the turn of events and continue to vote for the secular parties in the next elections. |
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