BJP Future - 5

11-19-2007, 03:53 AM

QUOTEWary of alienation, Uma mulls comeback 
Pioneer.com
Kumar Uttam | New DelhiÂ
Bharatiya Jan Shakti chief Uma Bharati's recent meetings with BJP bigwigs have once again fuelled speculation on her possible return to the BJP. Although the chances of an immediate "re-union" are being ruled out, BJP sources say that Uma's attempt to reach out to the senior party leaders might bear fruit in the days to come.

Confirmed reports have it that the BJS chief met former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi last week to seek his "blessings and guidance" - something that is being seen as her attempt to get back to the BJP. The meeting lasted for more than an hour.

What further fuelled speculation was a recent luncheon meeting between Uma and a close confidant of BJP chief Rajnath Singh, who facilitated a telephonic conversation between the party president and the BJS chief.

However, the meeting between Uma and a top BJP leader, who is being persuaded by the spiritual guru of the BJS chief, could not take place even though it was scheduled for Friday.

While Rajnath remained non-committal, it was conveyed to Uma that there was not a single roadblock in her way to rejoin the BJP.

"The Madhya Pradesh unit is averse to her return. Some senior party leaders also want to keep her out. Her opponents in the BJP say there is no guarantee that she would not behave in the manner she had a couple of years ago," well-placed BJP sources told The Pioneer.

Uma was suspended from the BJP in November 2004 for an outburst against senior party leaders in full glare of electronic media. Following RSS pressure, her suspension was revoked in May 2005 and she was appointed as a member of the party's national executive. Finally, she was expelled from the BJP in 2005 for revolting against the appointment of Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Leaders close to Uma accepted the threat of getting "politically irrelevant", following the continued dismal performance of her party in the last by-elections for the Lok Sabha and the State Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh. The setback has compelled her to think of getting back to the BJP. 

It is common knowledge that VHP patriarch Ashok Singhal is batting for Uma and it was on his assurance that she had withdrawn her candidates in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, early this year. She also did not field BJS contestants for the Lok Sabha by-elections for two seats in Madhya Pradesh, held in March 2007. The BJP candidate for Gwalior was the daughter of her mentor, the late Vijayaraje Scindia.Â

11-19-2007, 08:55 PM

Yeddyurrappa resigns as Karnataka CM just 7 days after taking oath QUOTEKarnataka Chief Minister BS Yedyurappa on Monday handed over his resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur after the JD(S) refused to support BJP on the floor of the House. The decision to not contest the trust vote and resign from the top post comes from BJP high command which said that JD(S) had once again betrayed âcoalition dharmaâ.Â

Deve Gowda now looks at CongressÂ 


Gowda and family should be kicked out from politics, they can't even keep word for 10 days.

11-19-2007, 09:03 PM

QUOTEGowda and family should be kicked out from politics, they can't even keep word for 10 days
It's been predicted in this very thread too. Kudos to Yeddyurappa and his team for not bending to Gowda who wanted assurances signed on stamp paper. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/b_woot.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='b_woot.gif' />
Could be a strategy by Yeddyurappa to show the real Gowda and his brats to people lest they forget?
Seems like a repeat of ABV govt which collapsed in 13 days.

11-19-2007, 10:04 PM

Why Gowda pulled the BJP government down: The inside storyQUOTEObservers who have been watching the events of the last few months said that, left alone, Gowda would definitely have pulled the BJP down, but he would have given them at least six months in power.

Intense pressure from his family, especially his third son Revanna, was too much for him.

Revanna, it is said, had nurtured chief ministerial ambitions, and was miffed with Gowda for extending support to the BJP.

According to Revanna's coterie, since Kumaraswamy (who is incidentally is the youngest of Gowda's four sons) had been given a shot at power and the same would be extended to Revanna too.

Had Gowda not given into the demands of Revanna, there was every chance that the latter would have split both the party and the family. Gowda not only had to put up with the Revanna's demands, but also had to give into the demands of Revanna's wife Bhavani. It is said that Bhavani would soon join the party and contest from the K R Pet constituency in Mandya. Both husband and wife had pressurised Gowda right from the beginning when a decision to make Kumaraswamy the deputy chief minister was taken. Revanna's supporters felt Gowda was giving away too much to Kumaraswamy.

To fulfill Revanna's dream, Gowda now intends to join hands with the Congress and form a government. If this works out, Gowda will push the Congress into agreeing to make Revanna the chief minister.

Preliminary talks between the two parties reveal that Revanna would be made chief minister, while senior Congress leader Parameshwar will be the deputy chief minister.

Apart from the Revanna factor, sources say the allocation of key portfolios was also a reason for Monday's drama. Yeddyurappa maintained that the only reason for Gowda to issue the whip was because he wanted both urban development and the mining and geology portfolios. Yeddyurappa said all the other excuses are lame in nature. He questioned, "What is so lucrative about these portfolios? Why are they insisting on these two portfolios?"
............


Karnataka governor recommends President's rule

**acharya** · 11-19-2007, 10:20 PM

Yeddyurappa Govt. resigns

Bangalore (PTI): Barely a week after its formation, the first-ever BJP government in South collapsed in Karnataka today after its ally JD(S) decided to vote against the confidence motion in the state assembly.

Despite the decision by JD(S) Legislature party to vote against his government, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa went ahead to face the confidence vote but resigned minutes before the voting took place as JD(S) leadership refused to extend support to his government.

After the collapse of the government, JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister H D Devagowda said Yeddyurappa does not want to agree to the 12-point MoU mooted by JD(S) to share power.

The crisis came to the fore as BJP refused to accept JD(S) demands to sign a power-sharing deal allotting plum ministerial portfolios and stuck to its stand till the end.

JD(S) decided to vote against the trust vote "because Yeddyurappaji wants to take Sriramulu (former minister) back into the cabinet", Devegowda, who left for New Delhi this afternoon, said.

Yeddyurappa, sworn in Chief Minister on November 12, announced his decision to quit in the House this afternoon and submited his resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

Immediately after his departure from Raj Bhawan, Assembly Speaker Krishna ruled Yeddyurappa has lost the confidence vote and adjourned the House.

BJP Govt collapses, Governor recommends President rule

Bangalore (PTI): The first BJP government in the South collapsed on Monday in Karnataka after the saffron party's ally JD(S) dramatically decided to vote against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in the confidence motion in the state assembly leading to the Governor to recommend President's rule.

Even after JD(S) Legislature party decided to vote against his government, Yeddyurappa went ahead to face the confidence vote but resigned minutes before the voting took place.

After the collapse of the government, JDS leader and former Prime Minister H D Devegowda said Yeddyurappa does not want to agree to the 12-point MoU mooted by JDS to share power.

The crisis came to the fore as BJP refused to accept JDS demands to sign a power-sharing deal alloting plum ministerial portfolios and stuck its stand till the end.

JDS decided to vote against the trust vote "because Yeddyurappaji wants to take BJP leader B Sriramulu, who had filed a criminal case former Chief Minister and JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy, back into the cabinet", Devegowda, who left for New Delhi this afternoon, said.

Yeddyurappa, sworn in Chief Minister on November 12, announced his decision to quit in the House on Monday afternoon and submited his resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

Thakur accepted the resignation of Yeddyurappa and recommended to the Centre imposition of President's rule in the state, according to Raj Bhavan sources.

Yeddyurappa terms it betrayal of faith and trust by JDS

Bangalore (PTI): Senior BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa, who resigned as Karnataka Chief Minister on Monday, accused JDS of betrayal to bring down his ministry in Karnataka.

"Devegowda and Kumaraswamy have betrayed the people of Karnataka. To save democracy, we will go to the people's court and are confident of coming back with a majority and forming the BJP government", he told reporters.

The 64-year old "Yeddy", as he is known in political circles, brought cheers to BJP by forming its first-ever government in the South of the Vindhyas when he was sworn in on November 12.

After being forced to resign by JDS, which reneged on its support to him, Yeddyurappa directed his anger aginst JDS supremo H D Devegowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy, saying their action amounted to "betrayal of faith and trust".

He said he had spoken to his party leaders in the afternoon and wanted a debate on the floor of the assembly and "wanted to know what the JDS leaders had to say".

But Kumaraswamy, he said, had no locus standi to confront the assembly. "People will know the betrayal committed by JDS".

Defending BJP's decision not to accede to JDS' demand for signing an MoU for power sharing, he said: "Why do you want mining and geology portfolio? Had we not worked properly with you for 20 months? Did we do anything against your wishes during the term?".

"Had we given the Mines and Geology portfolio, we perhaps would have saved the government. We don't want that. We don't want a single change to the agreement that we reached 20 months ago".

"We will reject this sort of coercion," Yeddyurappa said, reiterating "we will go before the people's court. We do not want to repeat this again in Karnataka. Hence I resign."

He said with this "betrayal", Devegowda is bound to be a "political untouchable".

"They (people) know who betrayed us. We are confident of getting more than 150 seats (in the 224-member Assembly). We will teach them a lesson" and not rest till the party gets a majority.

"Everyone knows that 129 MLAs had given individual affidavits and were paraded before the President," Yeddyurappa said.

Recalling the statement made by Kumraswamy to media on Sunday, he said: "Last night Kumaraswamy spoke in front of the camera and said everything had been sorted and they would support the government."

"But next day, they betrayed us. People will not forget this betrayal."

Dubbing JDS as a party that had adopted "double standards", Yeddyurappa said, "for the sake of power they can do anything and everything".

11-19-2007, 10:25 PM

QUOTEBJP is stronger than what its support base indicates
The growth of the BJP in different States has passed through similar phases as that of Karnataka. Be it UP, MP Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttaranchal, Himachal, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand or Orissa, it has been a story of rise and rise.

First, it was branded a Brahmin-baniya party. It had to show the number of SC/ST seats it won in various elections. Then, the image created by its opponents by labelling it a communal party fell flat in the 1999 Lok Sabha election.

When Mamata Banerjee entered into an alliance with the BJP, she fought the proponents of the communal label lobby by retorting that the party which gets five crore votes can't be termed as communal. The proponents, however, are still clinging to the theory.

In other southern States, to think of BJP being non-existent would be misleading. In Kerala, the BJP's vote base of eight per cent is less than that of the CPM and the Congress but more than any alliance partner of LDF or UDF. In Andhra Pradesh, the BJP support base of 12 per cent is better than Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, it hangs between five to seven per cent. Lakshadweep has a BJP MP. If we count the weightage of national leaders, the party seems much stronger than what its support base indicates.

The BJP expects a quantum jump in the upcoming Gujarat and Himachal Assembly elections. So far as Gujarat is concerned, the media is hyper-active in trying to depict Narendra Modi as a demon. It did so in 2002 too. But the voters delivered their judgement, ripping apart all media assessments.

Even today when one meets a Gujarati anywhere, in India or abroad, he would tell you that Modi will win hands down. On being asked about the BJP rebels factor, Gujarat riots and the high voltage Congress campaign, he will tell you that the voter will not dither from his conviction.

In fact, Gujarat's electoral battle has become a referendum on the leadership of Modi. Modi virtually has no real contender.

The anti-incumbency factor in Himachal Pradesh is insurmountable for the Congress. After these two Assembly elections, political climate at the Centre is likely to be affected. The morale of the Congress and the Left Front seems to be going downhill.

11-20-2007, 10:42 AM

The BJP in the first place should have acted in a more matured fashion and should not have gone ahead with the formation of the Government. In the process many of the bloggers in this forum had to cut short their jubilation on the BJP march towards the South. It once again proved how this forum has been infiltrated by the people who are in the habit of day dreaming. The BJP is full of experienced leaders and it was expected that they should have dissuaded the State leaders not to form this weak coalition but to go for elections and face the public. The whole action once again proves that all our politicians are only runni9ng after power and wealth.

**acharya** · 11-20-2007, 11:50 AM

QUOTE(Ravish @ Nov 19 2007, 05:12 PM)The BJP in the first place should have acted in a more matured fashion and should not have gone ahead with the formation of the Government. In the process many of the bloggers in this forum had to cut short their jubilation on the BJP march towards the South. It once again proved how this forum has been infiltrated by the people who are in the habit of day dreaming. The BJP is full of experienced leaders and it was expected that they should have dissuaded the State leaders not to form this weak coalition but to go for elections and face the public. The whole action once again proves that all our politicians are only runni9ng after power and wealth.
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Even this event was forecasted. Dont worry about what the post says. Most of the people get information only from the news report. What is happing on the ground is not reported and real information comes only after some time.

Now this govt formation was a plan to show to the people who is sincere and which party is a crook. Deve Gowda's credibity will be questioned from now onwards with his show of removing support. THe people have to be made to understand and it is a perception game. Nobody is a fool and this includes the forum members/posters here.

11-20-2007, 12:15 PM

QUOTE(Ravish @ Nov 20 2007, 10:42 AM)The BJP in the first place should have acted in a more matured fashion and should not have gone ahead with the formation of the Government. 


Agree. Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me. If I am hellbent on making a fool of myself then probably I deserve it.

From the news report it seems like Yedurappa(or however he spells it now) had a big sympathy wave going in his favor. How much of it he has squandered is yet to be seen. Playing victim over and over again can make people question your character in return.

Nobody seems to want an election right now. Most probably Kangress will try to delay the election for as long as possible to let the sympathy factor fizzle out a little.

**acharya** · 11-20-2007, 01:06 PM

âBJP agenda worried usâ

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday defended the decision of the Janata Dal (S) to vote against the motion of confidence moved by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in the Legislative Assembly.

Reacting to the resignation by Mr. Yeddyurappa, he said Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh had turned down the suggestions made in the memorandum of understanding, which was submitted to him. This was one of the main reasons for the Janata Dal (S) taking such a decision, he added.

Another reason, he said was the danger from its alleged communal agenda.

The wish expressed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the swearing-in ceremony, that Mr. Yeddyurappa should follow the Gujarat model for development of the State also made the Janata Dal (S) to rethink on supporting the BJP Government. Mr. Kumaraswamy said he knew only what happened in Gujarat after the Godhra incident.

Asked a new government would be in place after a few days in the State, the Leader of the Janata Dal (S) Legislature Party said, ânothing can be said about what could happen in politics.â

Referring to the alleged communal clash at Savalanga village in Honnali taluk of Davangere district two days ago, Mr. Kumaraswamy alleged that the police had arrested 10 Muslim women. It was also an indication of what was going to happen in the coming days, had the BJP government been allowed to continue.

Already, the BJP was preparing its hidden agenda which the Janata Dal (S) wanted to stop, he added.

Asked what could have been the reason for Mr.Yeddyurappa to resign, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that perhaps he might have realised that he had lost the majority in the Assembly and left the House in a huff.

Asked if issuing a whip to the party MLAs to vote against the motion had dented the image of the Janata Dal (S), he said that it was all due to the fractured verdict given by the people in 2004.

**acharya** · 11-20-2007, 01:13 PM

This is what happens to clueless people.
They are unable to comprehend the seriousness of the situation
that the political elite are not looking at the larger interest of the state and development.


âAn insult to the people of Stateâ

Special Correspondent

Fall of BJP Government evokes mixed reactions among residents in the city

âDevelopment works picked up pace under Presidentâs Ruleâ

âJanata Dal (S) saved the State and the peopleâ

Bangalore: The decision of the Janata Dal (S) not to support the motion of confidence which led to the fall of the Yeddyurappa Government has drawn mixed reactions from the public.

While supporters and sympathisers of the BJP were angry with Janata Dal (S) president H.D. Deve Gowda, people with no particular political preferences hailed the fall of the Government as a victory of democratic forces.

Yogesh, a chemist who had come with his friends from Hirisave in Hassan district to watch the Assembly proceedings, felt that there was no point blaming Mr. Deve Gowda for the happenings.

The stand taken by the Janata Dal (S) to âjettison the communal BJPâ had saved the State and the people. However, it found it wrong on the part of the Janata Dal (S) leaders for striking a deal with the BJP for the second time.

K. Venkatanarayana Rao, a retired insurance firm official, said Mr. Yeddyurappa took the decision to submit his resignation. âHe has come out of the clutches of the Deve Gowda family, which was making his political life miserable,â he said.

Shashikumar Jamadagni, a Bangalore-based engineer with his own business agency, said it was good that the BJP did not get to hold the reins of power for long.

He felt that the Janata Dal (S) should not join hands with the Congress as it was no better than the BJP.

âNo priorityâ

Saraswathi Bai, a high school teacher, said the political developments did not augur well for the country. Public representatives, irrespective of party affiliations, had insulted the people of the State. âWe should blame ourselves for having elected people for whom social development is not a priority,â she said.

G.R. Chandran, a chartered accountant, wondered whether there was a need to have an elected government at all.

Quoting examples, he said development works had picked up pace whenever the State was under Presidentâs Rule.

**acharya** · 11-21-2007, 04:47 AM

The Karnataka drama

The short-lived drama of government formation by the BJP and its fall within a week in Karnataka was most unfortunate and could have been avoided.

The BJP should not have fallen for the arrangement of sharing power with the JD(S) in its eagerness to form the first-ever government in the south. It should have opted for elections.

K. Venkataraman,

Mumbai

The BJP committed the grave folly of aligning with the unpredictable JD(S) for the second time and paid the price. Knowing the ways of its alliance partner, it should have opted to face elections. It would have helped the BJP to regain its credibility and perhaps win a majority on its own.

N.S. Shenoy,

Coimbatore

The BJP should not have entered into a re-marriage with the JD(S). Unfortunately, it acted in haste and fell for the temptation of power. The Karnataka development goes to prove that both the BJP and the JD(S) are purely opportunistic and have no moral right to run a government.

What do these parties want to prove? That they can get away with anything?

C. David,

Bangalore

Even though the BJP was aware that its renewed coalition with the JD (S) might not last long in Karnataka, it opted for it as it could not resist the temptation of forming its first-ever government in the south. The people too welcomed the new arrangement as it would save the expenditure on mid-term polls.

The JD(S) leader, H.D. Deve Gowdaâs claim that his party sought to impose conditions for extending support to the BJP because of some bad experience during the Kumaraswamy regime is unconvincing. What prevented his party from parting ways with the BJP then?

K.N. Ramani,

Coimbatore

The episode enacted in Bangalore on November 19 could have been averted had the Governor, in the first instance, recommended the dissolution of the Assembly. The so-called âunconditional supportâ extended by the JD(S) was always in doubt. Later, it turned out that the âunconditional supportâ had 12 conditions. The Governor has done well at least now to recommend the dissolution of the Assembly.

K.P. Venugopalan,

Mumbai

The development in Karnataka is the latest manifestation of the power-centric attitude of political parties. The way political leaders fight for plum ministries in a coalition shows they have no concern for development issues. What matters to them is power, even at the cost of political instability.

Arivendu Bhardwaj,

Gurgaon

Ambrose Bierce was right when he said: âPolitics is a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.â

The immediate reason for the JD(S)â withdrawal of support to the eight-day old government is that it was not given the Mining and Urban Development portfolios. One hopes the Karnataka voters will realise at least now that they have no say in deciding on issues.

A.P. Jayanthram,

Chennai

Of late, it has become a habit for political parties that forge power-sharing agreements to bargain for important portfolios. It is clear that no party cares for the welfare of the people.

V.R. Ravikumar,

Chennai

Coalition governments are not only stumbling blocks to the progress of a State but also a burden on the people. They breed corruption as most political parties look only for short-term gains.

A.P. Thiruvadi,

Chennai

The BJPâs desire for power and the JD(S)â volte face have plunged Karnataka into a political mishmash. I do not think such twists and turns have been witnessed anywhere before.

The BJP should not have formed a government without hammering out its differences with the JD(S) over portfolio allocation.

K. Ramachandran,

Madurai

The political farce enacted in Karnataka not only baffles the common man but also disillusions him. Corrective measures in the form of legislation or amendments are the need of the hour.

The onus for correcting the system lies with the politicians themselves. They should work towards curbing political instability and uncertainty before they become well entrenched. Let us work together to ensure that democracy does not become a misnomer for India.

Deepti Pande,

Nainital

The JD(S)â act of parading its MLAs in front of the President, expressing support to a BJP-led government, and then withdrawing support without even giving it a chance, amounts to contempt of the executive.

Something should be done to stop such things in future lest Indian politics should have no future.

N. Divakar,

Mysore

The JD(S) has done it again. But the BJP deserves the treatment since it forged ties with the JD(S) even after being let down once.

The party should learn that politics is not just about power, even if it is sought to be exercised for the first time in a State.

E.K. Shyam Kumar,

Kochi

Enough is enough! The merry go-round power-sharing exercises must come to an end in Karnataka. The people are entitled to a stable government.

George Olivera,

Mysore

Chief Minster B.S. Yeddyurappaâs resignation vindicates the Congress stand that no stable government could be formed in Karnataka.

While the Bommai case was historic in one respect, the JD(S)-BJP case will become a precedent for Governors to gauge the possibility of a combineâs stability.

K.N. Bhagavan,

Bangalore

11-21-2007, 06:42 AM

QUOTENobody is a fool and this includes the forum members/posters here.

Acharya: Humor along yaar.. the bias has been exposed a long time ago.
It's too tiring to even bother responding.

Maybe Yeduriappa should have just gone to bed with Gowda to keep the genius in this thread happy. Sleeping with devil is name of the game to keep the kursi - just like Congress is doing today over the bodies of the dead and raped victims of Nandigram.
And this is perfectly acceptable to bright bulbs who shine around here.

**shamu** · 11-21-2007, 12:50 PM

The more I think about it, the more I believe that this is a master stroke by Yeddyurappa. If BJP has to form a government on its own in future, it must eliminate third front (JD-S) from Karnataka for ever. Unlike Mayavathi, CPI(M) or DMK, JD-S has no ideological strength of its own, i.e. it is not different from Congress. It became a powerful party in Karnataka because of the charisma of Ramakrishna Hegde and people of Karnataka did not have any alternative to Congress. Later Gowda family hijacked the party and made it their private asset. Now BJP has emerged as the third alternative in Karnataka politics and this created a situation where no single party can come to power in a triangular contest. So, in future, for Congress or BJP to form a government of its own, JD-S has to become irrelevent. What is the better way than to show it as a selfish party in front of the public?

Yeddyurappa behaved like a naive person in the game of JD-S, initially agreed to all demands of JD-S to form the government, waited for about a week to withdraw support when Kumaraswamy refused to transfer power, came back to Bangalore when JD-S promised support again. When Kumaraswamy realized that he was seen as a villain who betrayed the promise, he came back convincing Governor of his unconditional support to BJP and paraded all MLAs in front of the President for support.

Yeddyurappa showed that he is not a naive person after swearing in ceremony and started asserting his decisions. He did not budge when unconditional supporters started putting conditions. It was obvious that either way it is going to harm JD-S. i.e., If he continues as CM, it will help BJP more than JD-S. If JD-S withdraws support there is enough data to show that that was done for very selfish reasons. It looks like it is JD-S non-family MLAs who are going to be pissed off. Facing re-election is going to be tough for them and BJP can target individual MLAs personally in their constituencies. Chances that they will desert JD-S is very high. If JD-S had any sense of strategic thinking, they should have supported BJP for six months and then withdrawn support after precipitating a crisis, especially religious or caste based. Current actions show that they are just bull headed.

Whether BJP can form the next government or not is going to be how effective it is in projecting JD-S as a selfish and greedy party of a family and attracting its voters to BJP. Yeddyurappa can claim that he did everything to avoid an election. If he just wanted to cling to power, he could have simply agreed to Gowda's demands. So the moral high ground for him is still there, but BJP needs to cash it out properly. I think JD-S is dead unless Congress gives it a new lease of life during election.

**acharya** · 11-22-2007, 08:22 AM

The real inside information is about the secret discussion between Gowda and Congress at the center.

This is the real reason for this generation which cannot trust each other for the larger good of the state. The Gowda camp has been filled with stories about BJP and 'Gujrat experiment' secretly and sowed the seeds of suspicion.

This behind the scene activity is the insidious part of this operation and the public is not being made aware of this secret discussion and understanding.

The congress and the secular group have been spreading this fake canard and allegation about BJP without the people knowing about it. At the same time Congress is blackmailing other parties not enter into coalition agreement with BJP and creating instability in states like Karnataka which is the IT capital of India. The state elite and business leadership do not realise what damage this will cause to the growth and future prospect of IT and other industries in India.

**acharya** · 11-22-2007, 08:34 AM

BJP demands dissolution of Karnataka assembly

Bangalore (PTI): BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa, who had resigned as Chief Minister on November 19, on Wednesday led his party workers in staging a protest here, demanding dissolution of the state assembly and holding of fresh polls.

Flaying the "betrayal" by the JDS, Yeddyurappa said: "while BJP gave full-fledged support to the party for 20 months of JDS-led coalition, they (JDS) went back on their promise and never gave us any support".

"Infact, H D Kumaraswamy became the Chief Minister because of BJP and not because of H D Devegowda", he asserted.

Taking a swipe at Kumaraswamy and terming the JDS as "power hungry" , Yeddyurappa said "being a farmer's son, Kumaraswamy never asked for agriculture, irrigation or agriculture marketing but insisted on lucrative portfolios of mines and geology and urban development, which reveals his thinking".

"The JDS has ditched us and this will be conveyed amply during our tour of six districts from November 26", he said, adding the leaders will be visiting Mandya, Mysore, Kodagu, Hassan, Tumkur and Kolar and make the people aware of the "actual truth".

"Our main demand now is that the house be dissolved and fresh elections be held in the state", Yeddyurappa said.

The other leaders who spoke included Katta Subramanya Naidu and C T Ravi.

**acharya** · 11-22-2007, 12:34 PM

From UP to Karnataka
By Ajay Bose

After being ditched by Mayawati a decade ago, the BJP has once again come to grief over a rotational arrangement to share power with regional ally. However, the collapse of the first BJP Government in the South is far more damaging for the party

For the second consecutive time, the BJP has come to grief over a rotational arrangement to share power with a regional ally in a State Government. Almost exactly a decade ago, the BSP led by the mercurial Mayawati had trampled upon the deal with the BJP that made her Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for an agreed six month term, pulling the plug soon after the turn came for Mr Kalyan Singh to replace her at the helm of government. In an eerie replay 10 years after, the BJP has egg on its face, botching up once again the rotational experiment -- this time in Karnataka -- that now must be regarded by the party as the worst ever coalitional model.

Yet, the farcical collapse of the first BJP Government in the South within a week of its birth is in many ways far more damaging than the setback the party had received in Uttar Pradesh a decade ago. In fact, Mr Kalyan Singh, a political street fighter, had managed to turn the tables on the BSP, breaking it along with other parties to cling on to power even after Ms Mayawati's dramatic withdrawal of support. In the process, he had got his hands dirty and his party's reputation muddy; and, perhaps sowed the seeds of the BJP's ultimate decline in Uttar Pradesh.

Nevertheless, since it was the BJP that seemed the immediate winner, the mess that the party had made of the rotational deal with the BSP was relegated to the background. Moreover, the ascent of the BJP to power in New Delhi soon after also helped to quickly heal the wounds of the fiasco in Lucknow. The fact that Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee managed to lead a coalition Government for nearly six years, albeit with some initial hiccups, had relegated the disastrous first experiment by the party of coalition by rotation to a distant memory, if not forgotten altogether.

Much to the discomfiture of the BJP, unlike the first time, the second failure of rotating power with an ally has no saving grace whatsoever. For one thing the party's chief ministerial aspirant, Mr BS Yeddyurappa, completely lacked Mr Kalyan Singh's street fighting abilities and quite overwhelmed by a veteran political rogue like Mr HD Deve Gowda. He failed to put even a semblance of a fight let alone turn the tables on his tormentors.

Nothing better illustrates the farce played out in Karnataka than Mr Yeddyurappa's desperate attempt to change his fortunes by dropping the letter 'i' in his name on astrological advice. This appears to be the only move he made to stay in power and was apparently inspired by another political loser, his predecessor Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Mr Deve Gowda's son, who recently added an extra 'a' to his name in similar hope of intervention by the stars. Indeed the two must rank as the most inept pair of political rivals and their tussle for supremacy the most ludicrous that this country has ever seen.

The most galling aspect of the BJP's denouement in Karnataka is that the party, apart from failing to capture power, also lost its opportunity of at least capturing the moral high ground by refusing to form the Government when the Janata Dal (S) first started playing political games. Had the party seen through the deal being offered by its ally and firmly turned its back on forming a Government in such dubious circumstances, it could have claimed a sympathy vote with more credibility in the next election.

But by accepting the Chief Minister's post and go through the formalities of a swearing in ceremony for Cabinet Ministers even as Mr Deve Gowda continued to play games and then cry foul when things went wrong is unlikely to elicit much support for the BJP.

It will also be unfair to lay the blame entirely on the local party leadership. The Central leadership appeared equally clueless as Mr Yeddyurappa on what to do with a truant ally. There was no attempt whatsoever in planning a clear strategy when things started going wrong and it had become evident that the State unit was clearly unable to cope with the crisis on its own.

Quite apart from the public embarrassment, the collapse of the short-lived BJP Government in Bangalore has larger implications for the party. It has come at time when the party is still recovering from its rout in the summer Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh where its dwindling fortunes is a constant reminder of receding hopes of a political comeback in the next Lok Sabha election. Karnataka remains one of the few promising new frontiers for the BJP and the party desperately needs to put its best foot forward in the State if it is to compensate even partially for the alarming decline in north India.

The Central BJP leadership must also be worried that the debacle in Karnataka is yet another blow to the party's reputation as the leader of a credible coalition alternative to the UPA. Ever since the NDA lost power in the last general election and Mr Vajpayee relegated to semi-retirement, the BJP has been steadily losing its position as the other pole of political power to the Congress. It has already been abandoned by several allies and may lose more in the coming months.

Much of the current woes of the BJP can be attributed to the absence of a strong and dynamic national leadership. While the appointment of Mr Rajnath Singh as national president may have been a sensible move when the savvy and force of Pramod Mahajan was behind him, it no long seems such a good idea now that the latter is no more. The Uttar Pradesh Thakur leader's essentially provincial nature is becoming increasingly palpable particularly when the party faces crises such as the recent one in Karnataka.

It is possible that Gujarat may still bring a taste of victory next month to the BJP. But if Mr Narendra Modi remains the only one in the party to display political innovation and dynamism, it is high time the party took some hard decisions. Otherwise, a considerably reduced number in the next Lok Sabha and nothing to show in the State Assemblies across the country as well may soon relegate the BJP to a very marginal role in Indian politics.

**shamu** · 11-22-2007, 02:10 PM

QUOTE(acharya @ Nov 22 2007, 12:34 PM)From UP to Karnataka
By Ajay Bose
...
The most galling aspect of the BJP's denouement in Karnataka is that the party, apart from failing to capture power, also lost its opportunity of at least capturing the moral high ground by refusing to form the Government when the Janata Dal (S) first started playing political games. Had the party seen through the deal being offered by its ally and firmly turned its back on forming a Government in such dubious circumstances, it could have claimed a sympathy vote with more credibility in the next election.
...


How can Yeddyurappa claim sympathy if he turns down the support of HD Kumaraswami? All BJP can claim is that they didn't give support on time, but Gowda can claim that it was BJP that refused the offer of unconditional support when it was made after clearing the confusion. Gowdas and secular media would go out to say that BJP was trying to exploit the sympathy of public by creating such a stituation.

Actually, at present JD-S has no excuse to give where as Yeddyurappa can claim that he made every attempt to avoid another election but did not want to cling to power at the cost of development of the state.

Lot of psy-ops in the media.....We have to see how Yeddyurappa handles this.

**acharya** · 11-25-2007, 05:03 AM

THINKING ALOUD

Congress partyâs fifth deadly sin
Sudheendra Kulkarni
Posted online: Sunday, November 25, 2007 at 0000 hrs Print Email

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A schism between preaching and practice having long become an accepted norm in Indian politics, an un-Gandhian act by the Congress leadership when the AICC held its special session on November 17 to commemorate 100 years of Mahatma Gandhiâs satyagraha movement went almost unnoticed. No, I am not referring to the fact that it was organised principally to project Rahul Gandhi as the next leader of the Congress and nation. Nor am I on the point of the glaring contradiction between his call for âmeritocracyâ in politics and his own failure to show any merit so far to qualify for the top billing he was getting.

Let Sonia Gandhiâs deafening silence on Nandigram at the AICC session also be overlooked, a silence that stood in stark contrast to the bold stance by West Bengalâs governor and the Mahatmaâs grandson, Gopalkrishna Gandhi. She was probably following the precept of one of the Mahatmaâs three favourite monkeys: âSee no evil.â

She was not even present in the Lok Sabha during the day-long debate on Nandigram. Not surprising, since she, too, has shown no merit whatsoever in parliamentary proceedings. Despite being the UPAâs chairperson, she has not participated in a single debate in Parliament since May 2004.

I am referring, instead, to the Congress partyâs role in H.D. Deve Gowdaâs betrayal drama in Karnataka. Recall that 125 MLAs belonging to the BJP-JD(S) coalition paraded themselves before President Pratibha Patil on November 6. Gowdaâs son H.D. Kumaraswamy, who enjoyed chief-ministership with BJP support for 20 months, insisted on that day that his support to the BJP was âunconditionalâ. Left with no choice, the governor, a loyal Congressman, swore in BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa as the stateâs 25th chief minister.

This is when the Congress leadership in Delhi became hyperactive. Four senior central ministers were in constant telephonic contact with the JD(S) supremo, telling him, in effect, âDeve Gowdaji, why do you want to give up your efforts to thwart a BJP-led government in Bangalore? Just ensure that your party MLAs donât support Yeddyurappa in the confidence vote. Thereafter, come to Delhi and weâll discuss how the Congress can help your party form the government again.â

This is exactly what Deve Gowda did, forcing Yeddyurappa to quit on November 19, before seeking a confidence vote. But when Gowda came to Delhi the same evening to discuss a new Congress-JD(S) arrangement, Sonia Gandhi, my sources tell me, did not even take his call. Instead, the Union cabinet swiftly brought Karnataka under Presidentâs Rule again. In other words, the Congress leadership goaded Gowda to betray the BJP, and then betrayed him itself.

Look at how both the Congress and JD(S) have perverted the peopleâs mandate in Karnataka. In the 2004 assembly elections, the Congress was voted out of power. The BJP emerged as the single largest party (79 out of 224 seats), primarily due to Atal Bihari Vajpayeeâs phenomenal popularity in the state, trailed by the Congress (65) and the JD-S (58).

Now, if the assembly is finally dissolved, as is most likely, it will have set an unedifying record: the parties that came second and third in the 2004 elections got to have their chief ministers, but the party that came first was conspiratorially denied the same opportunity. Self-styled secularists might justify this by saying that the âcommunalâ BJP must be kept out of power by any means, fair or foul. But is this what we mean by democracy?

Remember how the battle to protect secularism bizarrely gifted India with Deve Gowdaâs premiership in 1996? In the elections to the Lok Sabha that year, Congress lost power, winning only 140 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 161 MPs, but Vajpayee was denied the opportunity to serve the nation beyond 13 days. In the power struggle that followed, the âsecularâ warriors finally crowned a back-bencher from the Janata Dal, a party with only 46 seats, to become

Indiaâs prime minister. What a back- stabber the ex-PM has turned out to be.

The lesson to be learnt from the political skulduggery in Karnataka is this: It is easy to eulogise the Mahatma, as Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh have done on numerous occasions in recent years in their unconcealed bid to project the Congress party as the sole inheritor of his legacy. But are they heeding what he preached as principled political conduct? As one enters Raj Ghat, an attentive visitor will not fail to notice a red-stone plaque that bears Gandhijiâs message about âSeven Deadly Sinsâ. These are: Wealth without Work; Pleasure without Conscience; Science without Humanity; Knowledge without Character; Politics without Principle; Commerce without Morality; Worship without Sacrifice.

The exhortation about the fifth deadly sin â Politics without Principle â applies to all political parties, to a greater or lesser extent. But there is an additional lesson the BJP must learn from the happenings in Karnataka. After tasting the first betrayal at Gowdaâs hands, when he refused to hand over power to Yeddyurappa in October, it should not have given him the opportunity to administer the second betrayal. By committing this mistake, it too is seen as a party hankering for power â even at the cost of self-honour.

**shamu** · (This post was last modified: 11-25-2007, 09:40 PM by acharya.)

These Gowdas are dumbs. Had they played their cards intelligently they could have ruled as a dominant partner to BJP like BJD in Orissa or JD in Bihar. They could have negotiated for that for future elections when they went for an alliance with BJP to form the government.

From Acharya's post, it looks like Congress also wanted to finish off Gowdas.

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