Karnataka crisis fizzles out as rebel MLAs return

www.mangaloretoday.com

Bangalore, Oct 7, 2010:  The crisis in the BJP government seems to have fizzled out. The state BJP crisis managers led by G Janardhana Reddy have succeeded in getting many rebel MLAs back into the party. Six more rebel MLAs hiding in Goa are also expected to return by Thursday night or Friday.

The Gowda family, which engineered the revolt, is now getting desperate after the Congress high command in Delhi refused to back the JDS.

The proxy war for control in Karnataka has on one side the powerful Bellary brothers, considered the moneybags of the BJP government in the state. On the other side are H D Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister and son of JDS boss H D Deve Gowda.

Both sides are resourceful and are trying to poach MLAs from each other. And caught in the middle of the battle is Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. Desperate to save his government, he is now relying on the monetary clout of the Reddy brothers to bail his government out. G Janardhana Reddy said: “We will sort it out.”

The worried CM spent the whole day at a temple in Kerala seeking divine intervention leaving the job of protecting his government to the Reddys. Kumaraswamy, who seemed to have gained an upper hand just 24 hours ago, is not sounding very confident now. H D Kumaraswamy said: “Everything is very confusing. Nobody knows what is happening.”

Both sides are wooing these BJP and independent MLAs, who in the last 48 hours have been moving from one hotel to another, keeping everyone guessing.

Without the support of these MLAs, the Yeddyurappa government would be a minority. But what could save the BJP government is the Congress’s unwillingness to form an alternate government with the help of the Gowdas. Janardhana Dwivedi said:

“We are not interested.”

This is not the first such crisis which governments in Karnataka have seen in the past five years. As money power dominates politics, MLAs have become available to the highest bidder, putting the future of the Yeddy government at risk.

Courrtesy: IBN Live