Stark contradictions and U-turns within BJP
In the last assembly elections,the BJP met a miserable defeat owing to its own party image. Congress wasn’t even responsible for where BJP had found itself. The BJP’s high command in Delhi and leaders at local level had posed massive challenges to Yeddyurappa, who was not allowed to discharge his duties. The government was resting on the money power bolstered by the Reddy brothers who were another league of troublemakers altogether. They resorted to blackmailing Yeddyurappa at every given opportunity. The dissidents often went to Delhi and complained against their CM BSY. And all this finally ended with BSY having to relinquish the CM’s seat. The only priority for the BJP ministers after this was to loot the state. Many ministers were caught carrying out acts of corruption and were even caught in the act. Finally, the BJP government fell after Justice Santosh Hegde submitting a report on unchecked illegal mining in the state. After Yeddyurappa was forced to step down,The BJP government gave the state two chief ministers such as Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar. Not only that, there were even two deputy chief ministers too. The assembly hall because infamous for the legislators watching porn films when the session was on.
Speaker K G Bopaiah flouted the rules and BJP breathed a temporary end with Yeddyurappa deciding to launch a new party, KJP or Karnataka Janata Paksha.
Today as we get close to elections, BJP is desperate to assume a new avatar.Like the mighty phoenix, It wants to rise from the ashes and come to life. It needs a brand new identity. But then why would people accept a party that they roundly rejected last time? They could have, only if the current Congress government had misruled the state or had not attended to people’s needs and requirements. CM Siddaramaiah has given most significant welfare programmes to people. Hence, the Congress government has gone to people with Siddaramaiah as their leader.
Though it was inevitable, and also desirable for the BJP to go to seek people’s mandate with new faces and fresh manifesto, the party has lost its plot by projecting the same leader the people had rejected last time. The current BJP has disappointed their own workers.
When BSY formed KJP, the same leaders within BJP had criticized him to no end. Today, this job of criticism need not be done by the Congress. BJP itself is being unfair to its own roots. If people remember the past and go over the criticism the leaders had made against each other, this party would definitely bite the dust in the coming days. The infamous Reddy brothers who were responsible for the collapse of the order in the BJP government, are being considered in the top ranks of the party again. Unfortunately, our own Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being seen with the corrupt Reddys pandering around him. Janardhan Reddy had even approached the Supreme Court to seek permission to canvas on behalf of the party he earlier belonged to.
Basically, BJP has gone to people with the same stains that existed earlier. And the party hopes to make a comeback too! That’s some ambition, really. The leaders seem to be thinking Modi’s jibes and sarcasm will win them the votes. But then this is a costly lesson the party would learn at the earliest that this way, people will never buy their version. Even their manifesto does not say anything new. Congress at least had made a solid effort in ensuring their manifesto consisted of deliverable promises and the party completed its own assurances. The BJP which had ridiculed Indira Canteens in the beginning, has now mentioned a canteen on such lines for poor people in its manifesto. So will people have to choose BJP only so that the scheme names can be changed? BJP has been very sternly against loan waiver of farmers. The state government did its part in waiving off the loans. But the government at the centre flatly refused to waive off the farmer loans. Now in its manifesto, BJP has assured farm loan waiver. On one hand, BJP encourages dairy farming and on the other, they have a law to protect the cows. The party is filled with contradictions from top to bottom over such matters. There is a ban on cow slaughter in some states of BJP rule, whereas some other states and leaders of the party have clearly made statements supporting protection of cows and total ban of cow slaughter. As of now, confusion is the only state BJP is in irrespective of whether it wins other states or not. And this could even mark the end of Yeddyurappa era too.
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Modi should leverage his ties with world leaders to de-escalate war in West Asia: Omar Abdullah
Jammu (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said India can play a meaningful role in de-escalation in West Asia, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong relations with the warring countries and their neighbours.
He said Pakistan was leveraging ties with Iran and the United States, and that any effort towards ending the war should be welcomed.
"As I said in the House (Assembly), we would like the war to end as soon as possible. The role that the prime minister can play may not be possible for anyone else because of his good relations with all these countries," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
He, however, said any escalation would not be easy to manage.
"Any such move by US President Donald Trump, despite the long history of Iran resisting external domination, would not be easy," the chief minister said.
Asked about Pakistan mediating in the war, he said, "I will simply say that if any country can play a role in preventing this war, no one should have any objection to it."
He added, "I will repeat what I said … our prime minister has good and close relations with all countries — whether it is Israel, the United States, Iran, or the countries around Iran. If those relationships can be used to make some progress and help ease the situation, it would be a good thing."
Abdullah said attacks by terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in India, as suggested by a report from the United States, are not unlikely.
Meanwhile, he asserted that any efforts to end the war, be it from Pakistan, must not be resisted.
"Pakistan is using its good relations with Iran and the United States to its advantage, and it has done so. How can we object to that? If that angle helps in stopping the war, would you want them not to act and let the war continue? We want the war to stop. If any country can play a role in that, it should. And if we can play an even better role, then we should do so," he said.
On unemployment in J-K, the chief minister said the issue cannot be resolved overnight, and government jobs alone are not the solution.
He stressed the need to explore alternative avenues, highlighting the importance of Mission Yuva in promoting entrepreneurship.
"Mission Yuva provides not just funding but also support in preparing DPRs and post-startup assistance, such as marketing. In just nine months, distributing Rs 1,000 crore and approving numerous schemes is a significant achievement," he said.
Abdullah credited the coordination between the government and Jammu and Kashmir Bank for the scheme's progress.
