By Firoz.T.Totanawala
The Bangalore Metro Reporter
THE VICTORIOUS DEFEAT
KOPPAL BY-ELECTION RESULTS SOUNDS TROUBLES FOR ALL
The BJP victory in Koppal by-election is the beginning of the fresh troubles for D. V. Sadananda Gowda Government. The former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa who has considered the by-election as a prestige issue, naturally has claimed credit for the victory, while other leaders have attributed the victory to the collective leadership. With the compulsion of cabinet expansion soon, the stage is set for a final countdown.
The victory of Karadi Sanganna, the BJP candidate from the Koppal has already intensified the infighting in BJP and threatens the very survival of Sadananda Government. The loyalists of Yedurappa have proclaimed that the result is the victory of Yedurappa who worked single handedly in the campaign. However, the state BJP had campaigned through collective leadership.
Interestingly, the entire cabinet except a couple of ministers camped in Koppal to ensure the victory of its candidate. The opposition Congress too pressed its top leadership for the campaign and for JD(S); the campaign was led by H. D. Kumaraswamy. Many factors worked in favour of BJP and Karadi Sanganna who joined the BJP a few months ago, won the seat.
Arguably, the Yedurappa factor had played a role in the victory and Karadi Sanganna too acknowledged this fact. Consequently, Yedurappa is back to the centre stage of the state politics. Let us recall that Yedurappa used to proclaim that he will be back as Chief Minister within six months. It is already been three months since his resignation and he has to bounce back in the next three months to prove his boastings, but, that is only a wishful thinking. With half a dozen criminal cases against him and fighting with his back on the wall to avoid jail, it is difficult for Yedurappa to be cleared of all cases in such short period. It will take few more years to come to a conclusion.
It is not that he does not know this hard reality, but, he now intends to cut his opponents in BJP to size. As the cabinet expansion is due very soon, Yedurappa is demanding his pound of flesh. With too many aspirants fighting hard over the cabinet berths and Sadananda Gowda not showing any political strategy, the field is all set for a fierce struggle for ministerial berths. The Reddy Brothers, who would have tilted the balance, are almost out of political games with their Don Janardhana Reddy, cooling his heels in the jail.
The anti-Yedurappa group led by Jagadish Shettar on the other hand is too weak to assert their rights and choice. They can only make noises unlike Yedurappa who is indeed a hard bargain.
Therefore, the cabinet expansion will be the biggest problem and Sadananda Gowda has left the entire issue to the BJP leaders. Once the expansion takes place, all hell may break loose and there are chances of rebellion by the senior leaders who are denied ministerial berths. Besides, the Reddy Brothers and their loyalist MLAs are also planning to resign enmasse in retaliation to their isolation and the Sadananda Government is thus in danger.
As such, the Koppal victory does no good to the stability of the Sadananda Government. The Koppal victory on the contrary has also taught a lesson once again to the Congress and JD(S). For Siddaramaiah, who wanted to contest the next Loksabha election from Koppal, the result is indeed shocking. He camped in Koppal and campaigned hard but in vain. And the JD(S) too suffered a setback there.
Whatsoever, the Koppal result does not auger well for any party, as on now.
And that is all.
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