Challenges Before the New Chief Minister
By selecting Basavaraj Bommai as the new Karnataka Chief Minister, the BJP Central leaders have taken a smart decision. The Sangh Parivar-backed group within the BJP which planned to snatch power from the Lingayats in the State has beaten a retreat at least for the time being. At the same time, however, it has succeeded only partially in its first attempt. Having realized the strength of the outgoing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and the Lingayat lobby which backed him to the hilt, the Sangh-Parivar group had to make amends to its original plan. The developments in Karnataka are thus seen as the BJP’s central leadership giving in to Yediyurappa by choosing one of his close confidantes for the hot seat. The RSS and the Central leadership will now keep a close watch on the new dispensation and will keep experimenting their agenda and push it ahead wherever possible during the two years before the next Assembly elections.
Compared to the known faces in BJP, the selection of Basavaraj Bommai is an excellent choice both for the state and for the BJP. The Central leadership’s selection was unexpected for the Hindutva hardliners in the BJP. By choosing Bommai, who has a history of working with Siddaramaiah, who is not identified prominently with the RSS and most importantly, is a confidante of Yediyurappa, the BJP leaders saved the state from the rule of a Hindutva hardliner. His choice must have come as a surprise to Bommai himself. His father S.R.Bommai became the Chief Minister in similar unexpected circumstances in 1988 and was in the post only for eight months. Power that comes unexpectedly can be lost as unexpectedly. If Basavaraja Bommai has internalized this lesson from his father’s experience, he will know how to moderate his own expectations from the post, given the current situation in the BJP.
Given the track record of the institutionalized corruption during Yediyurappa’s rule, it will be futile to expect the state’s administration to be back on the rails with a mere change of Chief Minister. If the Centre continues its step-motherly treatment of the state in providing funds, the new Chief Minister will also become helpless. When Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, the Centre did not release the full share of GST to the state and repeatedly turned down the state’s request for adequate compensation during droughts and floods. The Central leadership did not back Yediyurappa politically either. He was not allowed to expand his cabinet for months after he was sworn in as Chief Minister in 2019. If only his cabinet colleagues had cooperated with him fully, Yediyurappa would have been able to give a much better administration. As he was making futile trips to Delhi to convince the Centre to release more funds, the State’s contingent of 25 MPs from his party did not come to his help. Instead they sided with the Centre and issued open statements that the State had adequate funds. That was at a time when Yediyurappa was staring at an empty treasury. The new Chief Minister can do any good to the state only if all these change in the coming days.
It is foolish to assume that the selection of Basavaraj Bommai will end dissidence in the BJP. Those who were personally dissatisfied with Yeddiyurappa might have found solace with his replacement but the source of their grouse was not addressed. Senior leader Jagadish Shettar has stated already that he will not join the new cabinet. Another senior leader Eshwarappa has demanded the post of the deputy Chief Minister. A group of seers from his Kuruba caste have voiced this demand on his behalf. Other prominent leaders such as Yatnal and Umesh Katti are sharpening their knives. Legislators in the pro-Yediyurappa group are obviously hurt. The new cabinet will have to accommodate the opposition turncoats whose support is crucial for the government to survive. In addition to all this, the silence of RSS leaders can also be analyzed in different ways. The new Chief Minister has said that he will take Yediyurappa’s guidance for administration. However, if Yediyurappa starts interfering in the administration, it will give rise to fresh problems. Similarly, if Bommai keeps Yediyurappa and his son at a distance, the father and son duo will start groupism within the party and may even lead a breakaway faction. Yediyurappa’s son has allegedly amassed such wealth during the two years of his father’s rule.
Most importantly, RSS which has not been able to implement its game plan fully can continue to sponsor groupism within the party to push for the kind of change that it wants to see in the government. It will obviously want to back leaders such as Prahlad Joshi, B L Santhosh, or Tejaswi Surya as Chief Ministers as they are the main torch bearers of its ideology.
If Bommai is able to provide good administration despite such challenges lined up before him, it would truly be his achievement. It is the duty of the Central leaders and RSS leaders therefore to cooperate with Bommai to provide good administration to the state that is reeling under Coronavirus, lockdown, and floods. Karnataka does not have the strength or the patience to witness yet another change in Chief Ministers before the next elections due in early 2022.
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Kejriwal responds to EC, says water received from Haryana 'extremely poisonous' for human health
New Delhi (PTI): AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday responded to the Election Commission notice over his claim the Haryana government was "mixing poison" in Yamuna, and said raw water received from the BJP-ruled state in the recent past has been "highly contaminated and extremely poisonous" for human health.
In the 14-page reply to the Election Commission, the former Delhi chief minister said if such "toxic water" is allowed to be consumed by human population it would lead to grave health hazard and fatality.
Kejriwal said he only wanted to highlight the "urgent public health crisis" due to the quality of drinking water in the city, and he violated no law or Model Code of Conduct, hence the issue should be closed.
He said the "alleged statements" attributed to him were made as it was his public duty to red flag the "severe toxicity and contamination" of raw water received from the BJP-ruled state.
Following a complaint filed by the BJP over the matter, the Election Commission issued the notice to Kejriwal on Tuesday, giving him time till Wednesday 8 pm to furnish his reply.
Kejriwal also said the ammonia level in raw water received from Haryana was so "extreme" that water treatment plants in Delhi are unable to process and bring it down to safe and permissible limits for human consumption.
Following their party chief's response, the AAP issued a statement, saying, "It is an undisputed fact that there is 7 ppm ammonia in Yamuna water, A Delhi Jal Board CEO letter admits toxicity is 700 percent higher than the permissible limit."
In his response to the EC, Kejriwal also alleged that Haryana's "failure" in controlling pollution in Yamuna has resulted in an "unprecedented public health crisis" in Delhi. He alleged "indiscriminate" discharge of industrial waste in the river by the state.
The AAP supremo said Haryana is an upper-riparian state and Delhi, ruled by his party, has no role to play in the high level of toxic water being made available to the city.
"Due to such high level of toxic content in the raw water supplied by Haryana, the water treatment plants in Delhi are operating below capacity and there is a shortage of treated water in Delhi," he claimed.
Saying that access to clean water is a basic human right, the AAP chief asserted that raising this critical issue cannot be considered an offence.
"The said statement by no stretch of the imagination can be termed inciting enmity between different groups or prejudicial to national integration," he said.
On the contrary, the substance and purpose of these statements are rooted solely in the public interest, aimed at highlighting a legitimate civic concern that requires urgent institutional intervention, he asserted.
He requested the EC to intervene in the matter and issue appropriate directions to Haryana so safe water is made available to the people of Delhi.
