Bengaluru, Aug 2: Within a year of returning to power for the fourth time as Chief Minister in Karnataka, septuagenarian B.S. Yediyurappa has consolidated his position in the ruling BJP to stay the course till the next Assembly elections in mid-2023.
"A combination of factors helped Yediyurappa to consolidate and stay the course for the remaining term of his office to ensure the saffron party retains power in the state though he is unlikely to stake claim for the chief minister's post again as he would be 80 years old by 2023," a party source told news agency here.
Since the 77-year-old seasoned politician assumed office on July 26, 2019, the first year has been tumultuous for him, as he had go through a "trial by fire" what with the party's mighty high command and detractors testing his patience in the face of natural calamities like drought, floods and the Covid pandemic.
The first 7-8 months of the term were spent in tackling drought and floods, winning 12 of the 15 by-elections in December to secure a majority for the ruling party in the lower house and expanding the cabinet in February.
Even as Yediyurappa was settling down to seriously govern after presenting the state budget for fiscal 2020-21 in early March, the coronavirus outbreak overwhelmed him, as the pandemic spread and wreaked havoc, disrupting life, livelihood, economic growth and development.
"While the emphatic victory in the by-elections ensured the government's stability till the assembly term up to mid-2023, the second cabinet expansion on February 6 posed a challenge to Yediyurappa, as he could induct only 10 of the 12 MLAs who defected from the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and won the by-elections, triggering a revolt in the party by the loyalists left out of the ministry," the source recalled.
Though Yeddiyurappa has been leading the battle against the virus from day 1 and initially succeeded in controlling it from spreading during the extended lockdown till May 31, reopening the state under Unlock since June has undone the gains, as positive cases shot up to 1,29,287 so far, including 73,219 in Bengaluru after 53,648 recovered from across the state till date, while 2,412 succumbed to the deadly disease since March 9.
"For a state of 7 crore population, the data reveals that the pandemic has been fought on war-footing to contain it from spreading in all the 30 districts, although there are no signs of it going away till a vaccine is found. The chief minister has been trying to balance unlocking the state and containing the infection," a member of the health task force told IANS.
With six cabinet posts in the 34-member ministry being vacant, filling them will be a daunting task for Yediyurappa, as at least 20 legislators, including 5-6 newly elected turncoats and party's veterans are lobbying to become ministers at any cost.
By appointing 20 party legislators as heads of state-run board and corporations, nominating 5 as members of the state legislative council, including JD-S defector A.H. Vishwanath in July and getting 2 Congress defectors R. Shankar and M.T.B. Nagaraj elected as MLCs in June with 2 others, Yediyurappa ensured that these lawmakers would not be in the reckoning for the 6 cabinet posts, as dozen MLAs are already pitching for them.
Nagaraj and Vishwanath lost in the December 5 by-elections, while Shankar was not given a ticket to contest in the by-poll but was assured of making him an MLC with another disgruntled member C.P. Yogeshwar, who lost in the 2018 May assembly polls to JD-S leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the 14-month-old JD-S and Congress coalition government from May 23, 2018 to July 23, 2019.
Resignations of 17 rebels, including 14 from the Congress and 3 from the JD-S led to the fall of the coalition government, as Kumaraswamy lost the majority in the 225-member assembly on July 23, 2019 in their absence.
Though Yediyurappa led the party to win 105 seats in the 2018 assembly elections and formed a government on May 17, 2018, he resigned 3 days later on May 19, 2018, as he fell 8-9 seats short of the halfway mark (113) for a simple majority in the lower house.
In a post-poll alliance, the JD-S and the Congress formed the coalition government to keep the BJP out of power in May 2018, after the assembly elections gave split verdict and the Congress lost power then.
"The record victory of the ruling party in the May 2019 general elections, when 25 of its 27 contestants won out of 28 Lok Sabha seats from the state, reinforced the popular belief that Yediyurappa is the party's mascot in winning elections and an unquestionable leader of the politically dominant Lingayats in the state," the source pointed out.
When Yediyurappa left the BJP and floated a regional outfit (Karnataka Janata Party) in January 2013, he delivered a body blow to the BJP in the May 2013 state assembly polls, as the votes got split and was defeated by then Congress.
"Besides the party's high command, everyone in the party's state unit, including leaders and cadres are aware of Yediyurappa's popularity across the state, as has the wherewithal to connect with masses and win elections," the source added.
Mr Basha went to Saudi Arabia 14 months ago. In a video message sent to his friends on WhatsApp, he has alleged that his employer had not paid him so far. The video has gone viral.
Comments
Kotiaan brothers did not see the carrot saffron shakes video of aseemanada and Nithyananda rapes....ha ha...he loves Arab porn...like all sangheez even watch in Parliament....
Piece loving nation ..haha. ..I also saw the video where Arab milk shakes raping indian women maids from Hyderabad ..
Dear Satya Vishwas...
U are right but what We muslims need to Present the TRUE message of ISLAM to the public as well as the cheddis .. cos they are carrying in their mind the ISLAM which is taught by the Cheddis.. which is dumping them deep into darkness (hate, jealousy, crime, looting, lies and etc) as well as the society.
So we should educate whatever way to spread the real msg of ISLAM to the cheddis as well as the non muslims ...
When we present the true message atleast few may reflect who are honest.. in their hearts. ALLAH guides those who are honest in looking for God.
Why CD readers bother about this Phycho person;(Phycho Viren) this man must be admitted Kankanady hospital for his brain wash in Vande dot CLOREX muthram.
dear all CD readers : please do not react , or comment to viren kotian just neglect him,BECAUSE HE IS DEPLOYED by RSS to ignite and provoke minorities, so if we react to his inhumane comments he and his dirty mind followers enjoy it.And they are successful in their mission, and also he get highlighted , so why to give him unnecessary (un) popularity.
REMEMBER THAT IF YOU THROW A STONE AT LOOSE SHIT (VIREN) IT SPREADS ALL OVER .
so lets not waste our valuable time by arguing with the inhuman viren.
Viren Kotian , seeing your comments i understand that a deluded understanding is giving such a buncombe, please understand such swaggering appears unarmed for a rational discussion.
kindly refrain
Vande matram means cheddis bow down to the mother land...
What islam says
ALLAH is the lord of all that exists, U me and all that is in between the earth and the skies..
We Muslims bow down to ALLAH alone and nothing else , Even not to our respected prophets or our mother who gave birth to us...
We love our prophets,
We love our mother
We love our mother land
but we will never worship our mother land...
ALLAH created us and We bow down to him alone.. Please dont ask me to bow down to the motherland which is also a creation of ALLAH...
ALLAH forgives every sin with true repentance but associating partners with him is the biggest SIN... which is a way to hell and Please dont drag us Muslims to that destination... Sorry I believe ALLAH as my lord, Muhammad pbuh and all the prophets as my messenger and Islam as my religion....
Please VIREN when U worship the mother land, U actually denying the TRUE GOD ... I request U to look who is our CREATOR which VEDAS also mentions \NA TASYA PRATIMA ASTI\" there is no image of GOD...
IF you are honest in looking for the CREATOR , God will Guide U ... Atleast make some effort to look for the creator of all that exists.. Dont just worship the man made creations and animals and live a life unaware.. QURAN challenges mankind to bring a book like it... Please go thru it."
No one can become patriot just saying vande matram, this is crazy....we Muslims cannot do that...its against our religion...but in fact we will fight for our country without any hesitation.....and save country from our enemies.....
Hello joker Viren......a lot of bharat maa ki jai sons are also living happily with their family's in Muslim countries and they respect and are thankful to those people. Some goons like you will let Islamic nations kick them out of there.......you sick-minded will let people hate each other...saffron pillas....why don't modi offer job and respect to the people who say jai jai and are still working in Islamic nations.......u don't belong to a democratic nation.......go to your country Nepal....ha haa
Viren Kotian, how could you say, the person who doesn't sing Vande Mataram is not be Indian!!!
You must know its not our National Anthem and its an individual personal choice.
I don't understand why CD post such nonsense Viren Kotian comments!!
Viren, I think you don't have any knowledge of our Indian constitution!!
Bharat Mata har ek Hindustani ki hai, aur Akbar ek hindustani hai, apne desh se madad maang raha hai, samajh is baat ko. and
don't ever bring communal things in humanity!!!
Mr. Kotian why so much hatred on muslim relegion, we are human beings, remember that.. we are indians here we don't treat each other as HINDU's or MUSLIM's.. Try to be peace lover My Dear Friend..
Bharath kisi ke baap ka nahi. The slogan made purely illogic for any religion including hindus which is against the holy scriptures. Will you and your millions of hindu brothers say La ilaha illallah mohammedurrasulullah while entering in arab countries to earn their bread and butter.
Dear viper kotian if u sing vande maataram r u getting 15 lac from your govt? Then why u r singing r u mad?
Viren kotian.
Its haraam to say vande mataram according to vedas. Hindu is not a religion. Arabs gave the word hindu. U should be thankful to arabs.
Rama couldnt save his own wife sita from kidnap. How can he save u.
Ask any pandit. He will runaway from u.
The religion is sanatan dharm. Nowadays nobody knows a single word of it.
Habeebi viren, dont worry we will try to help him out.. If you are not sleeping then try to see the problems of those who sing vande mataram and still not came out of it. I doubt the govt helps them.
Indian govt should help this guy.
Viren - stop talking nonsense ( as usual )
What is Indian embassy doing around.....they got a lot money of expatriates collected during passport renewal time....millions of them...couldn't they use part of it to get this person come out of his ordeal...
You are not ready to sing 'vande mataram' but when you get stranded in a Muslim country you need bharat maatha's hindu govt's help. Funny people.
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