A high command which is not high?

Mathihalli Madan Mohan

Senior Journalist and Columnist

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A high command which is not high?

            HUBLI, 08^th July 2012

             The BJP high command is neither high nor has any command left.

            This stark truth emerges succinctly in the inept manner in which the BJP high command has been ineptly handling the dissidence in Karnataka BJP which is threatening the existence of the first saffron ministry south of Vindhyas.

            At a time party should have pulled up the socks in preparing itself to take on the scam tainted Congress in the forthcoming elections to the parliament couple of months away, the BJP has been presenting an inedible face, of a party, which is unable to manage its own internal crisis and has allowed the canker of dissidence to develop into a Frankenstein as it were.

            The younger generation of party leadership which has been in put in place with great flourish as a process of transition from the Vajpayee and Advani era, has proved to the hilt that the party can longer claim to be a party with difference but that it consists of men of clay, who have more faith in concept of political opportunism to the principled value based tactics. Even the patriarch L K Advani finds himself unable to step the developing and has allowed himself to be a passive spectator.

            Otherwise, how can one explain the strange phenomenon of the party compromising on party disciple and as a matter of fact appears to pamper it off and on.

The party leadership hardly moved when the group of three ministers comprising of the Reddy trio, open raised a banner of revolt demanding the change of leadership of the Yeddyurappa government and resorted to the politics of herding the supporting legislators to the resorts. The party chose to turn a blind eye to the indiscretion and instead worked overtime to bring about a compromise. And all those who had names to the leadership at the state level were allowed to get away, even without a warning.  The complaints about the style of working of the then Chief Minster Yeddyurappa were pushed under the carpet, by a leadership, which refused to take cognizance of the ground realities in Karnataka.

            The tantrums thrown up by the former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, the latest case in the genre has been sum product of the laissez faire attitude of the national party in the matter of enforcing the party discipline.

            Ever since he was asked to step down in the light of indictment by the Lokayukta report on the illegal mining and plethora of land denotification cases, which have surfaced which resulted in his arrest Yeddyurappa has become a bug bear to the party s leadership.

            When he was asked to quit in the light of the scam report, Yeddyurappa demurred deliberately.  When he had to ultimately yield, he did  so in making it amply clear that it is his, rather than the party, which runs as for as Karnataka affairs is concerned.  He forced an election on the choice of his successor and defeated the nominee of the high command. Sadananda Gowda was his nominee for the post and Gowda defeated Jagadish Shettar, who had the backing of the high command.

            The high command had no problem with the new Chief Minister and as a matter of fact it was appreciative of the work being done by him in providing a   clean government and taking care to keep the family members at a distance unlike what had happened during his predecessors days.

            However Gowdas effort to run a government independent of his mentor angered Yeddyurappa like anything and he started an open campaign seeking his removal. But now the tables have turned and Yeddyurappa demanded the removal of the very man he had installed in office and wanted him to be replaced by Jagadish Shettar who in the meantime had been weaned into his camp. Initially high command was not willing to concede and promised number of times to beleaguered Sadananda Gowda that he was backed to the hilt by the high command.  But dropped him as a hot potato when  Yeddyurappa held out the threat of precipitating the crisis by making group of nine ministers belonging to his camp to resign enmasse. The high command became panicky and had to give in to the pressures tactics of Yeddyurappa.

             The crop of the present second generation leadership which is at the helms of affairs was the first to cave in to the dictates of Yeddyurappa and lobbed the ball in the court of the patriarch Advani before making the final announcement.

            Advani   had always stood for a firm stand against those who have been making open mockery of the party discipline. At one stage he was reportedly of the view that the party should go for fresh mandate in Karnataka instead succumbing to the pressures of the Yeddyurappa group.  But had no option to fall in line the light of the combined pressure of the younger group that it is important to save the party juncture at this stage instead of taking a risk of fresh poll. And Advani had to yield and going by the newspaper reports “with tears in his eyes”.  Even the “iron” in the “iron man” (Loh Purush) has started melting. And that is the tragedy of the BJP under the dispensation of younger generation, which is more interested in the power game than anything else.

            Eom 05.51 hours.  09.07.12

             

              

             

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