<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Untenable alliance </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Let Karnataka have mid-term poll
Unless there is a miracle, it is unlikely the scheduled transfer of power in Karnataka will take place on October 3 when Mr HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) is supposed to hand over the Chief Minister's post to Mr BS Yediyurappa of the BJP. With no resolution to the political crisis in sight till late Monday evening, when BJP Ministers are believed to have handed over their resignation letters to Mr Yediyurappa, it is entirely possible that the BJP-JD(S) Government which came to power 20 months ago will fall apart, forcing a mid-term Assembly election, unless, of course, Mr HD Deve Gowda decides to cut a deal with his party's former ally, the Congress. The manner in which the alliance has unravelled over the past week is most unedifying and shows the BJP in extremely poor light. Given the fact that Mr Deve Gowda and his son, Mr Kumaraswamy, had made their reluctance to part with the Chief Minister's office abundantly clear, the central leadership of the BJP should have taken a more considered view and, rather than wait till the last minute, acted decisively in a manner that would have prevented the party's image from being severely dented. All the sabre-rattling that we are getting to hear from Bangalore is of little consequence at this stage; worse, it only highlights the fact that the BJP's central leadership opted for ad hocism rather than strategising for such a situation and converting it to its advantage by seizing the moral high ground. Today, the party is seen as hankering for power at any cost, regardless of the fact that its dignity lies in tatters in Karnataka - the fallout could also be felt elsewhere. The BJP would have partially redeemed itself had it chosen to walk out of the alliance and thus forced the issue, rather than be reduced to its present pathetic situation. Yes, the State leaders of the BJP are to blame for allowing matters to reach a point from which resuscitation of the alliance is virtually impossible. But the larger share of the blame lies with central leaders of the party who have clearly failed to act in time, betraying astonishing lack of political acumen.
<b>This is not to suggest that the JD(S) has behaved in an honourable manner or the Gowda clan is blemish free. On the contrary, by failing to keep their part of the power-sharing agreement, Mr Deve Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy have only reinforced popular perception of their brand of amoral politics bereft of even the most rudimentary scruples. By coming up with one reason after another to delay the scheduled transfer of power, they have made a mockery of their commitment and reduced alliance politics to a farce. Mr Deve Gowda now claims that the local bodies elections, in which the JD(S) has won the second largest number of seats, are an indication that the people want his son to continue as Chief Minister. This is patently absurd, not least because local body elections do not decide who should be Chief Minister. Mr Kumaraswamy says that he will consult his party MLAs on October 5 as to whether he should hand over office to the BJP's nominee. Obviously, the legislators will urge him not to do so. That does not legitimise his decision to dishonour his solemn promise. There is only one way out of the unseemly mess: Let this Government fall and thus allow the people of Karnataka to elect a new Assembly and a new Government. To persist with the 'alliance' would be a farce. </b>
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It looks like stalemate situation in Karnataka, as expected Gowda is ditching BJP. But without partner he can't survive or come back in power on its own. What a foolish man and poor strategy.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 3 2007, 03:06 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 3 2007, 03:06 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->It looks like stalemate situation in Karnataka, as expected Gowda is ditching BJP. But without partner he can't survive or come back in power on its own. What a foolish man and poor strategy.
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If you see his vote percentage, it was always constant. he really did not lose that much even though he is most unpopular with the media and urban folks.
The problem was he wants power where as congress wanted to be in the saddle with their support. For CM post they switched loyalties to BJP and now to keep the CM post they will switch loyalties to congress.
Deva Gowda's party is like BSP or SP. Irrespective of thier behavior, their vote bank is always intact and hence they will resort to any antics.
It is BJP that lost and it neither their fault. There is nothing much BJP(the untouchables) can do. They need to go back to grass roots and try to get more seats.
It is BJP that lost and it neither their fault. There is nothing much BJP(the untouchables) can do. They need to go back to grass roots and try to get more seats.
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Yeduruppa was in opposition for 30 years before he joined the cabinet.
Compare with the Cong J & K CM transition to Azad about a year ago. BJP partners have taken them for a ride time and again and they know that they can get away with it.
TN and KA CMs bring to mind Shishupal and Duryodhan. one goes on and on in abusing bhagwan, the other not honoring the pre-negotiated agreement. they will end up in the same way as shishupala and duryodhan did, too.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>BJP pulls the plug </b>
Pioneer.com
Kumar Uttam | New Delhi
All Karnataka parties go into snap poll mode
Karnataka is heading for a mid-term poll with the BJP on Saturday announcing withdrawal of support to the HD Kumaraswamy Government and the JD-S and Congress refusing to do business with each other.Â
<b>The BJP national leadership has asked Deputy CM BS Yediyurappa and State president Sadananda Gowda to return to Bangalore and hand over the letter of withdrawal of support to the Governor. </b>
They have been asked to brief the Governor about the circumstances compelling the party to take the decision and ask him for an early poll.
<b>Late in the night, Kumaraswamy forwarded the resignations of 18 BJP Ministers to the Governor.</b>
The decision to snap ties with JD(S) was taken by the BJP Parliamentary Board on Saturday after JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda bluntly told BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Friday night that the JD(S) would not hand over power to a BJP Chief Minister as per their 20-month-old agreement. Earlier, Singh briefed senior party leaders about the outcome of the meeting he had with Deve Gowda.
Member of Rajya Sabha and BJP's Karnataka in-charge Yashwant Sinha said the party was against forming a Government by engineering defection and would go for mid-term polls.
He lashed out at the JD(S) for not honouring the agreement.<b> "The issue is that a party headed by a former PM, is not ready to honour a pact," </b>senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu said, adding that it was the worst-ever betrayal by a political party and the people of Karnataka will teach lesson to the betrayers.
The BJP, which wanted Yediyurappa to replace Kumaraswamy as CM, said it had learnt a lesson and would henceforth be careful.
<b>The JD(S), meanwhile, hit back at the BJP saying the decision not to transfer power to its ally was because of the defamation campaign against their Chief Minister and Deve Gowda and "Sangh Parivar's attempt to turn Karnataka into a Hindutva laboratory."</b>
A resolution adopted by the PAC of the JD(S) said the BJP had done so as it was afraid of the growing popularity of Kumaraswamy and JD(S) good showing in the local bodies elections.
Gowda also favoured fresh elections saying his intention was to go for people's mandate. Announcing that the JD(S) would be equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP, the former Prime Minister said his party would not enter into any kind of arrangement with the Congress to remain in power. The Congress, too, dropped enough hints that it was not eager to do business with JD(S) in the wake of the BJP withdrawing support to the State Government.
The AICC Media Department Chairperson M Veerappa Moily dubbed both JD(S) and BJP as "power hawks and power hungry parties" while remaining tight-lipped on the future action of the party in the State.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Saffron pumps up </b>
Pioneer News Service | Bangalore
The BJP's unofficial poll campaign in Karnataka will begin here on Sunday when its MLAs will lead a procession of BJP supporters to Raj Bhavan to submit their letter withdrawing support to the JD(S) Government.
The procession from the Mahatma Gandhi Statue on M G Road to Raj Bhavan will be "converted" into an election rally to give a call to the people to "teach a lesson to father and son" (Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy) for breaking the promise to hand over the reins to BJP.
Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will preside over a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party where a formal decision will be taken to withdraw support.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>We have learnt a lesson, says a snubbed BJP</b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Posted online: October 06, 2007
The saffron dream to spread to southern part of India by installing its first-ever Government in politically significant Karnataka turned sour on Saturday as JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda of refused to play ball despite power seems to be losing from the hands of JD(S).
For BJP, it was a rude reminder of the Mayawati episode in Uttar Pradesh, where the BSP denied sharing power in a similar fashion around a decade back.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"The moral of the story is that we have learnt a lesson and we have to be careful in the future," senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said terming the "worst-ever betrayal". </span>
The saffron party on Saturday demanded to take people's mandate after withdrawing support to the 20-month-old HD Kumaraswamy Government in the State.
Meeting early in the day after Deve Gowda told BJP President Rajnath Singh that his party would not honour the commitment of sharing power.
<b>In the 2004 elections, which returned a hung verdict, the BJP emerged the single largest party with 79 members, while Congress bagged 65 and the JD(S) got 58 in the 225-member House.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"One must realise that it is not a child's play to run a government. The recent incident in which a bus was burnt over the Ram Sethu issue, the Mangalore riots and the stoning of Karunanidhi's daughter's house, all these are dangerous incidents. Do you think I should have handed over power without ensuring that such incidents do not take place in future? What about the security of the state. The welfare of the people is more important than my word or promise, an emotional Kumaraswamy said link
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Why he is linking this?
During his rule how many times terrorist attacked Bangalore, what an idiot he is?
Anybody from Karnataka with knowledge of politics and caste? How is it divided across the political spectrum? Does all Vokkaligas vote enblock to Deva Gowda party? Are lingayats divided lot? Is there a potential that they all will vote for BJP in the next election? How is North Karnataka mix into caste politics?
Please educate us guys <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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The decision of the JD(S) headed by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda against transferring power to the BJP has led to rumblings in the JD(S) legislature party.
<b>Mahima Patel, the son of former Chief Minister JH Patel, who was Karnataka's Special Representative in Delhi and party's parliamentary secretary, resigned from his post in protest against the failure of the Chief Minister to keep his word given to the BJP.
In another development, another senior JD(S) leader Vijay Sankeshwar, former MP, also announced his resignation from the party for his party's "betrayal". </b>
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Till Sunday night, it seemed as though Karnataka was heading for a mid-term poll. However the scenario seems to have changed with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-Secular coming to an understanding after a late night confidential meeting.
The meeting which was attended by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and several other BJP and JD-S leaders decided that ties between the two parties have to be renewed. Sources who attended the meeting said that it was decided that B S Yediyurappa would be chief minister while Kumaraswamy would become the deputy chief minister.
The meeting also resolved some of the key issues that had haunted the power transfer issue between the two parties. The BJP was ready to hand over both the home and finance ministries to the JD-S. At the meeting, BJP leaders assured the JD-S leaders that troublemakers from their party will be kept under control, but the JD-S should not seek their dismissal.
The other condition laid down by the BJP was that the JD-S at no point should rake up the Mangalore riots issue.
Yediyurappa, who was not present at the meeting, cut short his visit to rural Karnataka and returned to Bangalore on Monday. He is expected to meet with other leaders and chalk out the strategy. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh too is holding a meeting to decide on the next course of action.
Most JD-S leaders close to Kumaraswamy too were keen on transferring power to the BJP as they felt that the image of party had taken a severe beating after they refused to hand over power.
But there are certain hitches too. JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda and his other son, H D Revanna are not too keen on this alliance. However political pundits say, "The duo were not happy initially when the government was formed too."
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Kumaraswamy resigns as CMÂ </b> link
Zee News Bureau
Bangalore, Oct 08: Ending weeks of uncertainty about the fate of his government, Karnataka <b>Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday met Governor Rameshwar Thakur at the Raj Bhavan and tendered his resignation</b>. The development came in the wake of his government being reduced to a minority, following the withdrawal of support by the BJP and the outright rejection by the Congress of the idea to support his government.
Earlier in the day, Kumaraswmay had met the Governor and had expressed his willingness to resign by 6 pm, following which he held consultations with his father and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda.
<b>Kumaraswamy had decided to convene the assembly session on October 18 to seek the floor test, but BJP and the Congress were firm in their stand for dismissal of his government.</b>
After the JDS` refusal to honour the power-sharing pact, the BJP yesterday withdrew support to the 20-month-old coalition government, reducing it to a minority. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Kumaraswamy has been left with no option as the Congress has also refused to support him and told Governor Rameshwar Thakur that he should be sacked if he does not quit on his own, party insiders said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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