Though Operation Lotus Flops, BJP Gains in Karnataka Bypolls
by Gabriel Vaz
Daijiworld Media Network
(Author is former political editor of Economic Times, Bangalore)
BANGALORE, Aug 21: Even as the BJP is yet to recover from the rude jolt it suffered at the national level through the expulsion of its senior leader Jaswant Singh over his pro-Jinnah tilt, the saffron brigade’s only southern citadel in Karnataka is also undergoing convulsions.
After the recent series of internal bickerings involving several ministers, starting with the open rebellion by senior leader and energy minister K S Eshwarappa and the Bellary ministerial trio of G Janardhana Reddy, G Karunakar Reddy and B Sriramulu, Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had to contend with the dissidence activities by his one-time close confidant Renuukacharya.
The filing of a criminal case against minister Sudhakar Naik in a fraud case by CBI and the public protests from farmers against the release of Cauvery waters from Krishnaraja Sagar dam to neighbouring Tamil Nadu are the latest in the headaches of Yeddyurappa, who was basking in the glory of breaking the 18-year-long jinx over the unveiling of the statues of Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore and that of Kannada poet-saint Sarvajna in Chennai.
Priyakrishna, Nanjundaswamy, MC Ashwath, Valmiki and K Raju
The ruling BJP, which fared quite well in the May 2009 lok sabha polls by marginally improving its 2004 tally of 18 to 19, was put on the backfoot in the just concluded monsoon session of the state legislature by a depleted Congress and JD(S) by vigorously pursuing several land scams. The coup of sorts cleverly engineered by Yeddyurappa through his statue diplomacy and the establishment of Periyanna-Chinna Thambi relationship with his more seasoned Tamil Nadu counterpart M Karunanidhi, has fizzled out quickly.
In this week’s second round of five by-elections to the state assembly, Yeddyurappa and his ruling BJP have suffered a huge loss of face by losing two of the vacancies caused on account of the much-derided ``Operation Lotus.’’ True, the saffron party, which had not won any of the five seats in the May 2008 assembly polls, has not been completely routed as it has managed to win 2 seats raising its tally from the 110 it won in the assembly polls to an unassailable 117 in the 224 assembly.
In fact, it is the principal opposition Congress party, which had won four of the five seats in the 2008 assembly polls, that suffered yet another drubbing. The only redeeming feature for the Congress is its ability to wrest the Govindarajanagar seat literally by the skin of its teeth. The Congress candidate, Priyakrishna, who is the son of Vijayanagar MLA, and is probably one of the richest candidates for a debutant with declared assets of over Rs 700 crore, has been able to trounce the most powerful housing and muzrai minister V Somanna, who had left Congress to embrace BJP.
The most damaging debacle for the Congress party, however, is its inability to retain the Chittapur reserve seat in Gulbarga, which was vacated by Union labour minister Mallikarjuna Kharge. In a bid to retain the seat, the Congress party had propped up Kharge’s son Priyank but lost narrowly to BJP’s Valmiki Naik, who avenged his defeat by the father in the assembly polls.
The third political player in the state, the JD(S) has acquitted itself honorably winning two seats – retaining Ramanagara held by it and snatching Channapatna from Congress. Thus, the JD(S) has proved that it continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysore area. Incidentally, the inability of Congress to make a good showing in Ramanagara and Channapatna, both assembly segments in the Vokkaliga dominated Ramanagara district, will be a big setback to the political ambitions of KPCC working president D K Shivakumar, who himself is a Vokkaliga.
Apart from Chittapur, BJP’s G N Narayanaswamy romped home to victory in Kollegal reserve constituency in the Chamarajanagar district near Mysore despite the tough challenge posed by Congress opposition leader Siddaramaiah and former Union minister V Srinivas Prasad, both of whom wield considerable influence in the Mysore-Chamarajanagar belt.
What must come as a rude shock for Yeddyurappa and the ruling BJP, is the utter failure of their ``Operation Lotus’’ with Lingayat leader Somanna and Vokkaliga leader Yogeshwar being humbled in their strongholds of Govindarajanagar and Channapatna respectively.
Somanna, who was rewarded with a ministerial berth by jettisoning S N Krishnaiah Setty, who subsequently got embroiled in a land scam in the Karnataka Housing Board, had prided himself as an invincible leader having switched from JD(S) to Congress and BJP without any qualms. Yogeshwar, on the other hand, had quit Congress, contested on BJP ticket from Bangalore rural, and lost miserably against JD (S) former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. Again, Kumaraswamy managed to teach this Vokkaliga upstart, who was also involved in a housing society scandal, by fielding not-so-well-known face like M C Ashwath.
In the first round of eight assembly by-elections held towards the end of last year with as many as seven vacancies caused by ``Operation Lotus’’ (four from JD(S) and three from Congress) and one caused by the death of a JD(S) MLA, the ruling BJP managed to secure mixed fortune. While BJP won five seats improving its tally to 115 and thereby overcoming its minority tag of 110 seats in the 224-member house, the JD(S) bagged three leaving Congress as the big loser. Now, the BJP and JD(S) have shared two seats each leaving a small consolation prize of a single seat for Congress.
Thus, the party-position in the 224-member Karnataka assembly, which had been revised to BJP 115, Congress 73, JD(S) 25 and independents 6 after the lok sabha polls, is now changed to BJP 117, Congress 74, JD(S) 27 and Independents.
So what does the second round of by-election results signify? Evidently, the ruling BJP has gained heavily at the cost of Congress while JD(S) has managed to hold its own. Another point to be noted is that the ``Operation Lotus’’ to increase the ruling party’s strength by offering attractive incentives of power and even money will not do the magic trick. If the ruling party could win at a heavy price in the first round, it failed in the second round and will have to be careful in future.
Yet another most important factor to be noted is that the Congress party needs to undertake a major surgery to its state party apparatus, even if means ruthlessly jettisoning some of the deadwood. The Congress party cannot afford to ignore the clout of JD(S) and hope to take on BJP single-handedly. The JD(S) will definitely hold its own in the Old Mysore region while BJP will grow in the north Karnataka and coastal regions. Unless, the Congress-JD(S) ties are reworked and as quickly as possible, there is every chance of the electorate rejecting Congress altogether.
The writing on the wall is clear. It is time for both BJP and Congress to heed the warning bells and get their act together, before it is too late.
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