Public angst over rain havoc weighs on political parties as polls near in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): With torrential rains in Bengaluru exposing its infrastructure woes, sitting legislators from the city and their political parties seem to be a worried lot over the electoral prospects, amid fears of anti-incumbency and public angst turning against them.
Assembly polls are barely seven months away, and elections to the city civic body the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) are expected later this year.
The downpour and deluge caused by it resulted in large-scale destruction and misery, affecting the normal life of people, with some complaining that the "brand Bengaluru" has taking a hit.
The famed IT industry bore the brunt of the rain fury; there seems to be palpable anger among a section of citizens who felt let down by the political class during the crisis.
According to some political observers and party insiders, this fear seems to be more within the ruling BJP, as the state government is being directly held responsible for the mess, in the absence of the city civic body's elected council.
Also, 15 of the 27 MLAs from the BBMP limits are from the party, with seven of them being Ministers in the cabinet.
Though the Congress has the luxury of blaming the ruling party for the situation and may not be in the direct line of public anger, the grand old party with 11 MLAs may have to bear their share of responsibility, having governed the city and the state for decades in the past.
Also, several Congress legislators from the city are those who have served as MLAs and Ministers in the past, and there might be an anti-incumbency factor against them.
Political analyst A Narayana from the Azim Premji University said in his opinion such events may have more political implications on BBMP elections than the Assembly polls, as in the latter other issues and emotive topics may come to the fore. However, in general, the going will be tough for the ruling party as it will be in the direct line of public anger.
"Also the question will be as to who will take advantage of it, and I think of all the parties AAP and any other newcomer will be in a better position to take advantage than the traditional players...the Congress will be on the defensive. As the ruling BJP will be held responsible for the misery, naturally (the Congress) too owes some explanation for the situation, having been in power in the past," he said.
Regarding the implication on the Assembly polls, Narayana said all that we can say for now is that some kind of anti-incumbency is slowly building up and this rain and flood-related damage will further contribute to it. Also in the Assembly elections it will be on candidate's popularity in some constituencies, it will be on the party's name in a few and the combination of both in others.
With growing public anger, a political slugfest has erupted between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in the state, blaming each other for the city's infrastructural mismanagement.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai himself led the charge for the BJP blaming the previous Congress governments' 'maladministration' for the deluge.
He has accused the grand old party of giving permissions for construction activities "right-left-centre" in the lake areas, on tank bunds and buffer zones, during its regime.
Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, accusing the ruling BJP in Karnataka of trying to shift blame on the Congress to hide its failures, urged the government to come out with a white paper regarding clearing of encroachments on storm water drains in the city, as he claimed that "brand Bengaluru" is getting affected.
State Congress Working President and senior MLA Ramalinga Reddy feels the rains and infrastructure woes that Bengaluru witnessed will negatively impact the ruling BJP, and if people truly analyse and compare with the Congress' tenure it should benefit the grand old party, considering the work it did while in power.
"The issue here is not rain; rain is natural, no one has control, but how the government acts is important as there will be issues like potholes, public infrastructure, also corruption, all this will factor in," he said.
People should compare how the Congress responded to such a situation and worked for the development of the city and what the current government is doing, Reddy said, adding that his party will launch a public and social media campaign to inform people.
"People should understand how important the development agenda is, instead of going for 'hijab', 'halal' and other emotive issues that are irrelevant," he added.
Meanwhile, BJP state General Secretary N Ravi Kumar said the issue will not have any impact on the electoral prospects of his party, and that they will efficiently counter Congress' narrative and attempt to blame the J P Nadda-led party for the mess.
"There will be no change in our electoral prospects... see constituency-wise, other than Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli that were largely affected, there was no major impact of rains and floods in other constituencies...did our MLAs in these two constituencies Arvind Limbavali or Satish Reddy create this problem? It (rains) was nature's fury," he said, '' the government is working to restore things and no one should politicise it.
Regarding encroachments, let there be debate on which government did how much towards clearing them, he said. "Let them (Congress) say how much they had cleared during their tenure, we will see how much we did in three years. Ramalinga Reddy himself has admitted they could not do much on clearing encroachments. Who was behind encroachments, gave permissions- whether from the Congress or BJP- let the truth come out. We are ready to debate it factually."
Following rains and floods in Bengaluru and other parts of the state, the BJP postponed all its programmes like state executive meet, office-bearers meet and tour of party leadership to 104 constituencies, and directed all its legislators to remain in their constituencies and work towards addressing concerns of people, Kumar added.
Recently, Bengaluru South Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya was trolled and was criticised by a section of social media users, and Congress accusing him of relishing dosa and promoting an eatery in his constituency, when the many parts of the city were reeling under torrential rains and floods.
Though most tweets targeted Surya, a few questioned two other MPs from Bengaluru- Sadananda Gowda (North) and P C Mohan (Central), who are also from the BJP. There were also several tweets blaming the city's MLAs and political class for the mess.
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Karnataka to approach SC seeking permission to continue MGNREGA
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to approach the Supreme Court seeking permission to continue implementation of MGNREGA in the state, contending that the Centre had repealed the rural employment guarantee law without consultation and failed to put in place any alternative mechanism under the VB-G RAM G Act.
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state would immediately move the apex court seeking permission to prepare and implement the annual action plan for rural employment works, while also challenging what it described as an infringement on the constitutional rights of states.
The parliament passed VB-G RAM G in December that replaces MGNREGA.
Patil explained that the Cabinet decided to approach the court seeking permission for the State Government to prepare an action plan in this regard. Since the Centre’s stand interferes with the constitutional rights of state governments, the Cabinet has also decided to challenge this issue before the appropriate court
“There are two points here. One is that they have come in the way of our constitutional right of providing the right to work. That has been halted, and, therefore, the State Government has decided to approach the Supreme Court. The second point is that the Government of India has not provided any alternative,” the Minister said.
The Central Government has not yet issued a notification to implement the VB-G RAM G Act, nor has it made any alternative arrangements and hence continuing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is unavoidable in the public interest, the Minister said.
“Therefore, in the interest of the public, farmers and agricultural labourers, we must continue MGNREGA. For that purpose, the Cabinet has decided to approach the court seeking permission for the State Government to prepare the action plan for this year,” he added.
The Minister also said the Centre had only permitted continuation of pending and spillover MGNREGA works without releasing grants or announcing a fresh action plan.
“The Centre itself has said that pending, spillover and half-done MGNREGA works can continue. That means MGNREGA is actually still functioning in practice. But there is no new action plan,” he said.
Patil said the state had already passed a resolution on the issue, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written to the Prime Minister and the Rural Development Minister had held discussions with Union Ministers.
Replying to questions, the minister said the state would move court “as immediately as possible.”
He clarified that the state was seeking permission to formulate and implement this year’s action plan under the existing framework.
“What we are asking the Supreme Court is to allow us to have the action plan for this year and implement it,” he said.
The Cabinet also held detailed discussions on the final report submitted by the State Education Policy Commission headed by former UGC chairman Professor Sukhadeo Thorat.
Patil said a Cabinet sub-committee would be constituted to examine the report and recommend measures for implementation.
“No decision has been taken yet. The Cabinet sub-committee will recommend what should be accepted and what should be modified,” he said.
He said the report comprised around eight volumes and covered issues relating to financial implications, human resources, curriculum reforms, deemed universities, unitary universities and newly established universities. The Chief Minister has been authorised to constitute the sub-committee.
The Cabinet also approved the Karnataka Motor Transport and Other Related Workers’ Social Security and Welfare Amendment Bill, 2026, transferring welfare administration of transport-related workers from the Labour Department to the Transport Department.
The Cabinet further approved establishment of three new industrial estates in Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Surpur under the Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation and Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board schemes at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore.
The Cabinet also approved amendments to Karnataka Civil Services (General Recruitment) Rules, 2026, providing two per cent reservation in state civil services appointments for sportspersons.
