Thaindian News

Bangalore, May 25 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa may have survived Governor H.R. Bhardwaj’s recommendation to dismiss his government but he will have to overcome several problems to complete the remaining two years of his term.

To start with, he will have to fill up the seven vacancies in the cabinet. As there are several aspirants, the unity displayed by the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Bhardwaj’s action is unlikely to last when it comes to sharing ministerial berths.

A bigger problem is expected to rock the Yeddyurappa leadership before August this year as an ‘explosive’ report on rampant illegal mining in the state is expected to be submitted by Lokayukta (ombudsman) N. Santosh Hegde.

Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court and a member of the Lokpal bill drafting panel, completes his five-year term in August and has said his report on illegal mining will be “explosive”.

Yeddyurappa is also fighting to ward off possible criminal proceedings as five complaints against him, his two sons and son-in-law over alleged corruption and illegal land deals have been filed in a Bangalore court.

The high court is now hearing an appeal to lift its stay on the proceedings in the lower court where the complaints were filed by two Bangalore lawyers after Bhardwaj gave them permission to launch criminal proceedings against Yeddyurappa.

The lower court had asked police to probe matters raised in the complaint and report to it. The high court stayed the proceedings on a petition by Yeddyurppa’s son-in-law R. Sohan Kumar.

Whenever Yeddyurappa attempted to reshuffle the ministry, he has faced problems within the party with old-timers unhappy that newcomers who deserted the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular have been preferred over them in cabinet berths.

The return of 11 legislators, whose rebellion along with five independents in October last year eventually led to Bhardwaj’s recommendation for dismissal, will only add to the problem as five of them were ministers.

Two were in the cabinet when they rebelled against the chief minister.

Also, a section in the BJP has had perennial complaints against Yeddyurappa’s functioning style.

In fact the campaign for the May 2008 assembly polls, which brought the BJP to power for the first time in the state, was marred by complaints that Yeddyurappa was ‘hijacking” it to give himself precedence over the party.

Groups of BJP leaders had gone to New Delhi to complain against Yeddyurappa to the party’s central leaders during the campaign itself.

The last time the complaint against Yeddyurappa was taken to New Delhi was in the last week of March. The dissidents were led by state BJP president K.S. Eshwarappa himself and included state party spokesman C.T. Ravi, a strong ministerial aspirant.

Eshwarappa had then said “there are some problems; ministers and MLAs (legislative assembly members) have communicated their problems to me.

I am going to Delhi to convey their grievances to the high command.”

However, the dissidents were pacified as the party was facing three assembly byelections on April 9, all of which it won.

Given such tense relations in the party, not only Yeddyurappa but also the BJP’s central leaders will have a tough task to ensure one more rebellion does not rock the party’s only government in south India again.

(V.S. Karnic can be contacted at vs.karnic@ians.in)