Mathihalli Madan Mohan, Senior Journalist and Columnist
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Yeddyurappa an enigma
HUBLI, Jan 21st , 2012
Yeddyurappa has turned out to be one of the most enigmatic political personalities of Karnataka of late. This is the transition in his personality, which is more evident after he tasted power and more so after he lost it and is trying to regain it somehow.
Before he acquired the new sobriquet, the former Prime Minister H D Devegowda had the exclusive copy right over it. Both Devegowda and Yeddyurappa have lot of common traits to the extent to say that real political heir apparent to political legacy of Devegowda is not his son Kumaraswamy but Yeddyurappa. This is despite divergent political ideologies they follow and practice.
Both are workaholics, authoritarian and would not countenance anybody else coming up under their domain. They are twenty-five by four political animals. They live and breathe politics. They have no hobbies and interests outside politics . They are firmly committed to pursue the goal for power. They believe in the principle that in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics and what is permanent is the pursuit of power politics.
Both are adept in playing the caste card. While Gowda has cultivated the Vokkaliga lobby, the Yeddyurappa has donned the role of Lingayat leader. Both of them court the religious leaders and take to pilgrimage seeking divine blessings for warding off their political troubles. Whether the frequent sojourns made around the temples and performing myriad yagas and yagnas have helped them in any way to lessen their political trouble is anybody guess. Both have no compunctions in promoting the political interests of their kith and kin.
Another important common trait they have has been their inability to hold on to the political bonanza. Devegowda who was all set to have comfortable five year tenure in 1996 as the Prime Minister of the United Democratic Front government lost it within one year. Because he needlessly tried to twist the tail of Congress President Sitaram Kesari. And the wily Bihari hit back to withdraw the support to the government and sent Devegowda packing home. Despite all the efforts made Gowda has been singularly unsuccessful in regaining his political position and relevance either at the Centre or in his home turf of Karnataka.
It has also been so with Yeddyurappa. After a long struggle and stint as the leader of the opposition, finally he landed in 2008 as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, the political situation presaged smooth full term tenure for him. He had the opportunity to improve on the record held by Devaraj Urs of being longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka for eight long years. With the opposition caught in a quagmire of leadership crisis, Yaddyurappa strode across the political scene in Karnataka as the only credible leader of Karnataka.
But he could not hold on to it for long. Everything that he had achieved because of his long political struggle had been lost in just three years. It is because , becoming heady with power, he chose to be indiscreet in running the government. And paid the price for it. As a result, today his political career is in shambles. The prospects of Yeddyurappa regaining whatever he has lost in the process appear quite bleak at the moment.
There are number of dissimilarities too between the two. Devegowda is cool operator but Yeddyurappa is not. JDS supreme plans his moves carefully notwithstanding the fact that some might have gone awry. But Yeddyurappa is quite impulsive in his thoughts and actions. Devegowda would keep his thoughts to himself, whereas Yeddyurappa cannot. He has a tendency to burst out quite often. Devegowda is quite measured in his talking. He speaks whenever he wants to and not otherwise. But with Yeddyurappa it is different. He cannot hold back his tongue and more often than not puts his foot into the mouth to land in needless controversies. He gives promises which he cannot redeem.
More than anything else, the main dissimilarity has been that while Devegowda is tactful Yeddyurappa is not. It is this trait which has been the undoing of Yeddyurappa.
Even during his days as the president of the state unit and as the leader of the opposition, it was known that he was authoritarian and that he would brook no interference from anybody. What he would say was the law and policy and expected implicit adherence. It was also known that he is uncomfortable without power. When he was handed down a shocking defeat at his home turf Shikaripur in 1999, Yeddyurappa, who was preparing himself to be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka for a while withdrew into the shell and in a mood of heroism he had announced that he would re enter only through direct election. But before the ink could dry, he had come back through indirect election as a member of the Legislative Council.
It had been a common knowledge that Yeddyurappa suffers from poor memory of the promises he has made and invariably reneges on all of them without batting eye lid. The classic example has been the manner in which he got a ticket for his son Raghavendra for the loksabha election from Shimoga. When speculation was rife about his intentions, Yeddyurappa swore by the name of God he had no such intentions.. But quietly he had worked behind the scene to get a nomination for his son.
But all this had not come in the way of his gradual political ascendancy. The voters of Karnataka backed him to the hilt, giving him the support initially and when he came to them again that it is not enough, they have gone out of the way to bestow attention on him to ensure that he can rule without anybody breathing down on his neck. But would the people in the changed circumstances, stand with him when his credibility in their eyes has touched a new low? It is a million dollar question. But Yeddyurappa is going ahead taking the peoples support for granted.
The people expected him to give a government responsive to their needs. But what did he give instead for all the trust the people had reposed in him? A government, steeped in scams, a government, which has allowed the loot of the environment and allowed siphoning of the crores of money, which otherwise would have been spent on the peoples welfare and a set of ministers who were more busy in making the fast buck unhindered . And the cumulative sin committed by those in power, extracted a heavy price in the unseating of Yeddyurappa. It has been a great let down for the people
But Yeddyurappa appears to be blissfully unaware of the legacy of the rampant corruption left by his government, while launching campaign for his political rehabilitation. Not even for a moment he has exhibited any sense of remorse over his failures as the Chief Minister. In the process he has no compunctions in deriding his own party government, belittle his own protégé whom he had installed in his place couple of months ago and his coterie ministers supporting him following suit.
Everybody who have watched carefully the plans being made by the political party for the impending loksabha election, are aware of the fact that BJP is making corruption as it election plank in taking on Congress. It is politically inevitable for the BJP to distance itself from the likes of corruption tainted politicians including Yeddyurappa. Till the loksabha elections are held, the BJPs national leadership cannot rehabilitate Yeddyurappa in any way. One cannot believe that Yeddyurappa does not know this fact. But has been relentless in putting pressure on the party high command to accede to his request.
A new trait which could be discerned from his activities has been his conscious attempts to portray himself as something bigger than the party and to portray himself that he is the party.
Yeddyurappa has no alternative but to bide time. He cannot afford to keep himself politically afloat without the BJP umbrella. Karnataka has a history of the powerful individuals making efforts to launch separate parties and bite dust in the process. If Yeddyurappa has any ideas of floating his own party, it is going to end up as a disaster.
But still he continues to talk in conflicting tones. He says he is a party loyalist but at the time he has no hesitation in warning party high command of the consequences of delay in acceding to his request on the future of the party and the party government. He started a tour of Karnataka to strengthen the party. But what he is doing is nothing but his own political aggrandisement. He has picked up quarrel with almost anybody in the party including his own chosen protégé the Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda. Normally cool and collected Sadananda Gowda appears to have lost his temper against the activities against Yeddyurappa and his cohorts. What has made him behave like this, is his unsatiated hunger for power. (eom) 21.01.12
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