Game not over yet
Projecting it as a political imbroglio, Yeddyurappa can always wonder whether he created his own ditch or fell into one dug by someone else. He probably expected Supreme Court too will give him a long time frame to prove majority on the floor of the house just like the governor gave two weeks. He may have trusted Amit Shah to get him a ruling in his favour from the Supreme Court. Or, so did the Reddy gang assure him. Supreme Court’s decision to prove majority within 55 hours of time since he took oath, must have come as a shocker to him. All the released audio clippings of the failed attempts of ‘horse trade’ revealed the last ditch attempts made to hold up the party’s image in south India failed.
The same people who were contacted to be ‘bought over’, released the audio clips of the deals they were presented. Yeddyurappa said on the floor: “Cong and JD(S) kept their MLAs together, hence we are unable to prove the majority.” This must be the heights of helplessness.
With all the MLAs in the house, why could he not seek the trust vote? Who would have stopped him? Yeddyurappa in other words, said he and his party didn’t get a proper opportunity for horse trading! He tried to project himself on the same lines as Vajpayee and wanted people to perceive his failure to secure a government as sympathetically as they can. But that doesn’t seem to have worked.
Fact remains that the leaders within the BJP were celebrating Yeddyurappa’s downfall. He fell into the pit dug by RSS and is now standing at the last chapter of his political career.
Now it needs to be seen how inevitable Yeddyurappa is going to be, for BJP from here on. They cannot even keep him away completely because the party has done well under his leadership. Now this thorn called Yeddyurappa is stuck in BJP’s throat, and cannot be removed without hurting yet. Though BJP wants to handover the reins to Santoshji of RSS, the occasion does not seem appropriate yet. He may well be relegated to history soon, but he still wields power within the community. But that will happen soon, if not sooner.
After that, BJP will fall into the hands of staunch Hindutva elements. One cannot comment on whether or not this would be beneficial for BJP. While we say this, we cannot even be sure of this Cong-JD(S) coalition government lasting any longer. Though the attempts for horse-trading has failed for now, it is not completely wiped out yet. It may occur in the near future if any of the disgruntled MLAs defect into the other side. This inevitable coalition, is much necessary for Cong and JD(S). Hence Cong immediately got in touch with JD(S) to form the government and hand over the CM’s chair to Kumaraswamy of JD(S). If Cong had got majority on its own, Siddaramaiah may have been the second term CM. A few top rung Cong men never wanted this. Now with HDK as CM-nominee, Siddaramaiah has been sidelined in the interest of the party. Parameshwar will be the deputy CM. The overall control of state Congress has moved into the hands of DK Shivakumar, a Cong strongman. So the original Conggressis are happy with this since Siddu was always seen as an outsider. They are still fine with HDK as their CM, but not Siddu. Hence, HDK wields the power with mere 38 seats in the state. Will he be allowed to complete a term of five years as the CM? Will Cong men cooperate with this? Will all the MLAs withstand the temptation of ‘deals’ that could be presented by BJP in the future?
With all this, even if the coalition lasts for a year or two, it would have its impact on Lok Sabha elections. JD(S) and Cong together can serve a grand defeat to BJP in 2019. Both JD(S) and Cong have massive responsibilities resting on their shoulders. They need to be in support of each other to complement and not to pull each other down. Cong has shown its 78 seats need not pose ego before the JD(S) with mere 38 seats. Together they can face biggest enemies of democracy. If both parties resort to their pettiness, the government will collapse and it becomes easy for BJP to gain traction. The parties then will have to bear with the curse of having handed over the state to communalists.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
