Yeddyurappa Refuses to Yield to Shobha Karandlaje
DHNS

Mysore, Jun 7: What Shobha Karandlaje proposes is usually not dismissed by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. On Saturday, however, Yeddyurappa would have none of Karandlaje’s request to step down as Mysore district in-charge Minister.  
 
Speaking at a government-sponsored rally here on Saturday, Karandlaje offered to step down as district in-charge minister on the specious plea that she had a tonne of work as minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

The request was made on the occasion of the Vikasa Sankalpa Utsava, being held to celebrate the first anniversary of the State BJP government in the Mysore division.
Karandlaje’s offer stemmed from an understanding that the chief minister was under some pressure from a section of the BJP about her functioning. Nevertheless, the Yeddyurappa’s bold stand was made clear at the programme, where a good number of senior ministers and Mysore’s BJP MLAs S A Ramdas and H S Shankarlinge Gowda were present.

‘Too much work’

Citing reasons for her offer, Karandlaje said she had too much work to attend to as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister. Besides, her workload would increase in the coming weeks as the Dasara festibals and Panchalinga Darshana at Talakaadu are scheduled for September and November, respectively.

“It would be difficult to do justice to both departments,” she said.

Shobha has come under criticism by a section of senior BJP leaders, including Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa, for calling the shots on behalf of the CM. There is a whispering campaign in certain quarters of the State BJP unit that she has been getting undue importance despite being a first-time MLA. Complaints against Karandlaje have also reached the BJP high command in Delhi.

A native of Puttur, Karandlaje was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore. She was in charge of the Lok Sabha election campaign in Mysore and Chamarajanagar, two seats which the party lost to the Congress in last month’s parliamentary polls.

Since she was given charge as minister for Mysore, Karandlaje received little cooperation from the BJP cadres, including MLA Ramadas. It is alleged that Karandlaje was taking unilateral decisions related to the administration of the district. In fact, the rivalry reached a level where local leaders refused to cooperate with her during the Lok Sabha election campaign.

Sensing that the pressure was, in fact, on Yeddyurappa, Karandlaje said at the Utsava that “it has become inevitable for me to make the appeal (to stand down as Mysore minister) even though it is an internal matter of government. I do not want to send any wrong messages and hence the humble request”.

Ramadas, a known Karandlaje baiter, took everyone at the gathering by surprise, appealing to the CM that she be retained as district in-charge minister. “After she was appointed Minister, a lot of development work has taken place. For the interest of the district, she should continue and we will cooperate with her,” Ramadas said. On his part, Yeddyurappa suggested Karandlaje continue to perform both functions.

“For the moment conduct the festivals effectively. You might have some other reasons for making the offer to step down, but we will consider your request a year later,” he said.