Comment

But for the fact that a string of elections, not crucial but important enough, are round the corner, the fratricidal battle within the ruling party may not have been interrupted by a long pause.

The sudden realisation that the daily war of words was actually causing public revulsion and, therefore, likely to harm the party’s long-term electoral interests, actually forced the party leadership to sweep all pending issues under the carpet. It is not as if the problem has gone away, just like that, merely because senior leaders, including Reddy brothers’ godmother, Sushma Swaraj, admonished the state actors to stop fighting like school kids.

While many of the demands of the dissidents have been met, some key issues, particularly accommodating some of them in the ministry, remain unresolved. But, for the present, everyone seems to have realised that a short break was needed to attend to other pressing business.

Not necessarily rushing back to villages in North Karnataka to take up relief work that had a more than necessary pause. It is now several weeks since the devastating floods swept across many districts and as people in those parts have stoically returned to their daily grind, the state can pause a little longer in building houses and bridges and schools. That work can go on, whenever it starts, regardless of problems within the ruling party.

Even regardless of the fact that the Lokayukta has found enough evidence of not only inadequacy in the works but corruption as well. If the governor joins in as well and says he is pretty upset over both tardy and shoddy relief work, so be it.

By now, enough tears have been shed over the plight of people there: it’s time to focus on a few other things so that the BJP is not seen as a party on a self-destruct mode. For that, you need to win the elections to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, due, if all goes well, in two to three months time. Losing the BBMP elections can be psychologically devastating and that is why ministers including Ashok, Katta Subramanya Naidu, and other leaders from the city have been desperate to bring about a truce between the two factions in the party. It appears their initiatives have contributed significantly for the current interval in this drama, as Karunakara Reddy himself described.

The BBMP polls and the elections to the legislative council from the local authorities constituencies before that are what will engage the attention of all the political parties.

Even though they may have no impact on the overall polity, losing any one of the two can be a huge setback for the ruling party given the current turmoil within. So, to conclude that Yeddyurappa has won round four or to think that the Reddy brothers have been halted in the mining pits because of problems in Andhra Pradesh would be a bit simplistic. The state’s political waters still remain muddied.

The only person who seems to have kept her word, despite losing her job, is Shobha Karandlaje. She has promptly gone back to Raichur to do her bit in the flood-affected areas. It merits an honourable mention because it shows some commitment even if it was primarily guided by ulterior political motives.