The fertiliser crisis in the state loomed large and the expectations from the “farmer-friendly” government had soared to the skies.
Taking oath in the name of farmers with a green shawl wrapped around his shoulders, BS Yeddyurappa received the jolt of his life even before he could complete a month as the 25th chief minister of the state.
The fertiliser crisis in the state loomed large and the expectations from the “farmer-friendly” government had soared to the skies.
The firing on farmers who tried to loot fertilisers at Haveri in June 2008 robbed the first BJP government in South India of even the honeymoon period that every government enjoys.
In his 29 months in office, Yeddyurappa has seen challenges galore and has shown the dexterity to convert some of the adversities into advantages with passage of time as the crisis precipitated by Reddy brothers slowly petered out.
Clouds burst and rivers literally swallowed hundreds of lives and villages in northern Karnataka during the last monsoon. Even as Yeddyurappa hit the streets seeking liberal contributions from the public for flood relief works, a revolt within the government threatened to bring down the government.
It was the worst moment of Yeddyurappa’s three-decade-long political career as he was forced to sacrifice his trusted lieutenants, rural development and panchayat raj minister Shobha Karandlaje and principal secretary VP Baligar.
However, Yeddyurappa’s decision to swallow his ego and show perseverance paid dividends as the political rumblings in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of YS Rajashekara Reddy’s death shook Bellary too.
The CBI swoop on illegal mining and the case in Supreme Court pushed the Reddys on the backfoot and enabled the chief minister to regain control. But little did he realise that his overconfidence would soon boomerang on him as his decision to ban export of iron ore made the mining lobby come together to ensure his ouster.
Yeddyurappa’s failure to emerge as a
decisive leader was evident in the l’affaire Lokayukta resignation. Justice Santosh Hegde, who enjoys unprecedented public acclaim as the Lokayukta, quit citing the government’s indifferent attitude towards the watchdog.
That Yeddyurappa did not go all the way to get justice Hegde stay back only dented the former’s image. It was finally left to the BJP high command to get the Lokayukta withdraw his resignation. By then the damage had been done.
Just when Yeddyurappa was heaving a sigh of relief with signs of a good monsoon, his ministerial colleague from Shimoga, Hartal Halappa, dealt another blow to the government’s image when he was taken into custody in a rape case. And in quick succession, the chief minister landed in further trouble as the recruitment scam in Hassan and Mysore medical colleges consumed medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda.
The recent investigations into the KIADB land scam by the Lokayukta led to the arrest of IT and BT minister Katta Subramanaya Naidu’s son, Katta Jagadish, severely embarrassing the chief minister, yet again.
Rubbing salt into Yeddyurappa’s wounds was the expose of a slew of land denotification scams directly implicating the chief minister and his sons.
Even though Yeddyurappa was fighting many battles on different fronts, he decided to effect yet another cabinet reshuffle. The purpose of that reshuffle was to consolidate his grip on the government. However, it proved counter-productive.
His special care to re-induct V Somanna and Karandlaje, determination to drop Goolihatti Shekar and Shivanagouda Naik, the close confidants of the Reddys and ignoring the rightful claim of party loyalists and seniors like HS Shankarlinge Gowda for ministerial berths made for a concoction that brewed yet another revolt.
The mining lobby, which had its own axe to grind against Yeddyurappa after the ban on export of iron ore, seized the moment and struck a lethal blow. The iron ore export lobby which was losing over Rs100 crore per day was more than willing to unleash its money power to fuel the angst of all the dissidents.
And former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy proved a perfect executor to settle scores with Yeddyurappa.
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