Operation Kamala: Shameless show of lust for power
People are seething with the developments in state politics since the last few days. BJP had tried to clinch power through the ‘Operation Kamala’ route soon after the assembly election results had been out. It had even submitted a memorandum to the governor seeking permission to form the government despite knowing the fact that the party didn’t have required number of seats to do so. But owing to the strong political acumen of DK Shivakumar Operation Kamala fell flat on its face.
Yeddyurappa was humiliated to no end during that time even by his own party members. Owing to BJP’s hunger for power, HD Kumaraswamy’s installation as CM was delayed. Just when people assumed that BJP has taken the role of a responsible opposition leader allowing the coalition government to work on its duties, BJP has started out to play dirty politics again to clinch the chair of the CM. Since the last two weeks, BJP has taken all its MLAs and is sitting in a resort outside the state. Those MLAs who have totally forgotten their duties towards the people who voted for them and are totally drowned in luxury. Yeddyurappa has undergone humiliation second time over. The media kept crying hoarse that the government would be toppled by Sankranthi and dissenting MLAs would join the BJP soon. But that hasn’t happened, and the dissidents have returned to identify themselves with Congress.
This has given rise to some anxiety in the Congress camp and they have now taken their MLAs to another resort in the state, and have been safeguarding them with great care. This bad politics by the BJP is having a negative effect on the state administration. This has not only led to the loss of face for Yeddyurappa, his image is suffering a beating with every such move of his. People are viewing BJP with a lot of mistrust. Normally when the election results are out, every party would consider its possibilities of clinching power in some manner or the other. BJP did that and unsuccessfully too since they couldn’t get even a handful MLAs to be on their side.
With this being the case, Yeddyurappa should have spent time consolidating and organizing people to turn into a successful opposition leader passing on the benefits to the people of the state. A leader needn’t be a CM to serve the people. One can do that even as the leader of opposition by identifying the mistakes of the government and forcing the administration to correct its course. If the ruling party has to work well, it needs to have a good opposition party. Yeddyurappa is a very able opposition leader. But instead of using that, trying shortcuts to gain access to the seat of CM does not suit Yeddyurappa. His repeated failures do not show him in good light. Some leaders within the BJP are encouraging Operation Kamala most probably to turn Yeddyurappa into a laughing stock. And BSY is falling into their trap.
But one cannot blame only BJP for these developments. When goods are on sale, there’d be prospective buyers too. Those who are ready to sell their integrity for the sake of money, despite having won elections from one party and now all set to defect to another, are enemies of democracy as well. They are selling all the faith people have placed on them. Those who are in coalition government should know when they slip into the cesspool of operation Kamala, they are going to lose the faith of people forever.
They are using the greed of BJP to gain power, to ensure their own greed for power and money is met. Had they joined hands with other parties over ideological differences with their party leaders, that move would have had some weight. Instead, they are ‘using’ the BJP like the party is using them. They are pretending to join BJP only to threaten the leaders within JD(S) and Cong. And BJP is jumping with joy even at the mere projection of their willingness to join. Even the dissenting MLAs know BJP can never clinch the power. But the victims of lust for power, the opportunism within the coalition government and the others happen to be the hapless voters.
The BJP is spending crores on resort politics hosting their leaders in luxury resorts away from the state. MLAs who had to attend to people’s works are spending time in the resort. Tragically enough, some media are projecting ‘Operation Kamala’ as some moment of pride for the BJP. Media is an inseparable part of this dirty exercise. This happens when media and politics become illicit partners to defeat the democracy. BJP needs to gain foothold in the next elections in some states at least. Since it lost base in the five central states, it is now being anxious. As a result of this, BJP leaders are wondering if they can gain some power in Karnataka by hook or crook.
Recently, a Modi bhakt had said people had to walk for Modi, leaving hesitation behind. ‘Lajje Bittu Hejje Haaki’ when written in Kannada also means leave the ‘shame’ behind. This slogan was for people, but looks like the leaders themselves have taken this way too seriously that they have left shame behind. These are the most tragic moments in the history of democracy in this country.
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Speaker rules out discussion on Guv''s conduct amid K''taka Assembly standoff
Bengaluru (PTI): In an effort to end the logjam over the Governor's address that has stalled proceedings for the past week, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday ruled that legislators should not discuss Thaawarchand Gehlot or his conduct in the house, saying such debates send the wrong message to the public.
The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the session began on January 22 over the issue of the governor's conduct.
During his address to the joint sitting of the Karnataka legislature on January 22, Gehlot read out only three sentences from the 122-paragraph speech prepared by the state government.
The speech included criticism of the Centre for replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), portions of which the governor declined to read.
Concluding his address in about two minutes, the governor left the house, triggering a commotion as Congress legislators attempted to gherao him and raised slogans.
While the opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress and its ministers of "insulting" the governor and demanded action, the treasury benches countered by claiming the governor had "insulted the National Anthem by leaving before it was played."
The house again witnessed heated arguments on the issue earlier in the day, leading to adjournment.
During the interruption, Khader held a meeting with ministers and opposition members to resolve the impasse.
When proceedings resumed, the speaker delivered his ruling.
Referring to the events of January 22 and the subsequent debate, Khader said the conduct and discussions had conveyed the wrong message to the public.
"Our conduct as members of this House and the opinions expressed must be in good taste and in accordance with constitutional provisions. They must uphold the dignity of the House and its members. We must introspect in this direction," he said.
He stressed the need for caution to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
"Let us end this matter here, continue the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor, and refrain from discussing the governor or his conduct in this house," the speaker said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the house should express regret over what he termed an "insult" to the governor.
Responding, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the situation would not have arisen had the governor read out the entire address.
"Asking the house to express regret is not appropriate. Why did the governor leave even before the National Anthem was played," Siddaramaiah asked.
BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar reminded Siddaramaiah that as Leader of the Opposition in 2011, he had asked then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to curtail his address.
Bhardwaj had subsequently placed the address on the table of the house, requesting members to treat it as read.
Siddaramaiah said the situation in January 2011 was different from the present one.
The debate grew intense, leading to another adjournment of the house.
