The yo-yo, on-off-on politics in Karnataka would defy Mr Ripley, if he hasn’t given up already. But the key question after Saturday’s developments—when the JDS and BJP once again seemingly came together—is how long will the second honeymoon last? Will it last the full course of 19 months? Will it last less than a year? Will it last between three and six months? Or will it tumble within the first three months?
There are two other questions: what prompted the two parties after all the name-calling over the past 25 days to join hands once again? Was the JDS driven by the fear of the Congress splitting the party, as H.D. Kumaraswamy claims? Or is the JDS playing it safe after the local body elections and reluctant to alienate Lingayats completely? Has the BJP shown its desperation to get into power by swallowing its humiliation? Or were the two parties fearful of letting the Congress benefit from their squabble?
And, secondly, who gains and who loses from the latest turn of events? Will Ananth Kumar ever come to terms with B.S. Yediyurappa becoming chief minister? Has M.P. Prakash‘s hopes of the gaddi been dashed forever? Has Siddaramaiah’s dreams of getting back at his bete noire H.D. Deve Gowda been quashed? Will the renewed lease of life enable the MLAs to make hay while the sun shines over them for a few more months? And will the reputation of the JDS get enhanced by its latest action?
27 October 2007 at 10:00 pm
‘Human Waste’ DG is obviously threatened by recent initiatives shown by Prakash. The last thing he wants is to lose power grip on JD(S). It’s not a surprise to see him supporting BJP now.
As to the BJP, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice….
“Kamaathuraanaam na Bhayam na Lajja”. Same way, when it comes to power, these guys have no shame or no fear.
27 October 2007 at 10:48 pm
BJP’s hindutva slogans may help it gain power (without alliances) in Gujrat, where it can convince people that muslims are the source of all problems, but in Karnataka people are smart enough to see that hindutva doesnt mean progress or reform to the hindu religion (i.e. rooting out the caste system and uniting people) or taking the whole people forward. For a common person like me, Hindutva seems to be just another divisive means devised by cunning politicians to gain votes. And it just wont work since you can never convince people who come from the lower castes that a party which makes such a noise about petty issues and rituals will not start showing its true colours once they come to power.
A thing to be noted from the current political drama is that the BJP is just another power-hungry party with no fascist streak (which seems to be the wet dream of many an idealogue). They may indulge in rabble rousing when it suits their needs, but when it comes to power, they will compromise with anyone at anytime – including DG, who has been using them and shaming them at the same time.
28 October 2007 at 12:21 am
We are going to live in ‘interesting times’ in the next few days.
28 October 2007 at 4:16 am
Indian media is too much biased for them killing of hindus is nothing because according to them Hindus are not humans only Muslims are humans. For that they make some theory and say we need not discuss about hindus killing by Islamists and discuss only killing of Muslims
28 October 2007 at 4:59 am
“Kamaathuraanaam na Bhayam na Lajja”.. fantastic shettre..thanks fo r that.. This is the first time i read it anywhere and is the apt desciption for yeddi’s position.. I mean what kind of a self esteem this safari pump shoe smarting muduka has..
28 October 2007 at 5:13 am
Biharis look really good when compared with the people of karnataka.
28 October 2007 at 5:56 am
DG got renovation money for leela palace hotel from BJP so this sudden change of heart. Paisa Bhol tha hai , anything can be bought in India.
Leela palace hotel the only 7star hotel in Bangalore is owned by DG how come ? did any bother to ask , so much for kannada people the ragimudde people
28 October 2007 at 7:05 am
No Government at Delhi, Karnataka? Shame on BJP, they are also after power not development. Who gets Home? It will be interesting to see!!
28 October 2007 at 7:13 am
Ravi Hanz emba lekhakaru Karnaatakada raajakeeyavannu tharkabaddhavaagi visheshisuththale rajakeeya naayigalannu (I hope dogs will forgive me for the comparison) kutukuththaare. Ourkarnataka.com nodi.
28 October 2007 at 12:04 pm
Politics at its opportunistic best.
28 October 2007 at 8:04 pm
For all of you who don’t understand the real dirty politics of the Gowda clan – This is another drama out in the open taking on congress & BJP to make them look like buffoons.
I am sure that Gowda will bless the so called ‘un-holy alliance’ of MP Prakash when he forms a Government after sometime with the Congress and will hold the government for ransom. If you observe very closely it is the same drama that is being re-enacted with a different set of political artists and both Congress & BJP are at the opposite ends compared to last time. The only final change to this drama will be replacing Prakash by Kumaraswamy after a brief period. This will only ensure that he is doing a backseat driving with his party in Government for all the 5 years tenure.
Finally, we are ones to suffer onceagain!
My firm belief is that this is a true farmer way of digging all other parties grave in a minefield of politics!
28 October 2007 at 9:44 pm
DG who swears by Secular Politics once grandly said that he wants to be born as a Musilm in his next birth ! But according Shariat once separted by Talak the lady cannot remarry unless the lady marries some one else and divorces ! So this marriage of JDS & BJP is against secular laws( read Muslim laws) . Who is the lady here is another question !!
29 October 2007 at 5:49 am
Dr. Ramesh and Sisya,
Just wondering what comments and thoughts you may have right now…
29 October 2007 at 11:25 am
What a fall, my countrymen, my countrymen!
From Suvarna KA, progressiveness and KA are synonomous-KA is another word for progressiveness, Karnataka the great, the forward-looking state and so on to this. Well, if this continues, all investment will go to other states and existing projects will slow down, be derailed or come to a halt. New investment will go elsewhere and KA will get into a rut of derailed projects, agitations, and political instability. A la Goa.
BTW, the Western Ghats are as enchanting as ever. Their beauty makes up for the condition of the roads in North-western KA. It is a beautiful experience.
29 October 2007 at 11:45 am
Sugata,
KA was great before all the ‘investments’. It will remain great after too. Why? Because the people of Karnataka are a great people. It is high time the influx of outsiders stops. Please let the new investments go elsewhere, where it is badly needed to feed the overbreeding population. Maybe then the mass migration to Bangalore and Karnataka will stop. We will deal with our internal problems. As long as outsiders pack up and leave.
29 October 2007 at 12:06 pm
You’re sounding like a certain B.Thackeray. He uses the same arguements and you condemn him for being parochial. The SS arguements are exactly what you say. Will you congratulate them for saying it? Do you also admit that Bombay has had way too much migration? Will you support the next time they say that the non-Marathis (including Kannadigas should leave?
Or is the emigration to Bangalore overmuch but to Bombay justified? 250 families migrate to Bombay-justified. 25-Bangalore-too much. Is what is sauce for the Bangalore goose also sauce for the Bombay gander?
Or are you a Kannadiga Thackeray?
29 October 2007 at 12:39 pm
DG has done the right thing,whatever might be his reasons.Better late than never.A congress-JD(S) alliance would have been disaster for karnataka.Karnataka would have been raped by kongas,gults,mallus AND northies.For congress,andhra(42 seats) and TN(39+1 seats) are far more important.On the other hand the BJP is non-existent in TN,kerala and AP.
Whether we like it or not,we have to engage north india.Even kongas and thiru karu do.It is upto an united karnataka to educate north indians.The BJP is desparate for a hold in the south.Karnataka can use it to its advantage.The Lingayats will not be alienated.The coastal madhvas will be happy.Ofcourse the madhva-lingayat divide has to be managed.But both sects are rooted in karnataka.The alliance will provide bargaining power to karnataka.The mightiest kannada kings have ruled from the raichur doab.
Growth in north karnataka can be accelerated,while applying brakes in the mysore region.This will assuage those who yearn for pristine purity.
29 October 2007 at 11:25 pm
He who seeks truth,
I dont give a f*** who Thackeray is or what his arguments are.
Please take your ‘investments’ from Bangalore (and Mysore) and leave (if that is all you are here for). The infrastructure here will never improve to meet your needs. In fact it will get worse as you ‘invest (plunder?)’ more. There are thousands of other places in India. Please go and settle there. You are welcome (if our eyes) to stay in Karnataka if you respect the locals and their culture. Leave your attitude at home and integrate. Of course you neednt, but if it goes on we may not be having a civil chat on the forums, since things will start being decided on the streets.
30 October 2007 at 1:45 am
Did I hear someone comparing Karnataka and Bihar again?? Come one guys get a grip on your imagination.
30 October 2007 at 2:20 pm
Iam a Indian citizen which automatically gives me right to stay anywhere in India, travel freely anywhere, hindi is the national language , so i have to learn to speak it, English is a useful language I can use worldwide so I learn to speak it, sanskrit is the ancient Indian mother of languages so i try to learn it at leisure, nothing else matters and nobody can point fingers at me i can live, buy, rent anywhere in India no need to speak in kannada to live in bangalore and eat ragimudde like kannada people do or speak tamil to live in madras and eat thair sadam or speak marathi to live in mumbai and eat vada pav.
jai hindi! sare jacha se achha hindustan hamara! vande mataram
30 October 2007 at 8:36 pm
Indian,
Keep up your callous attitude! Will only make the process of kicking a**holes like you back to your holes quicker :)
30 October 2007 at 10:59 pm
Hi Indian,
I have nothing against you but you should be interested in knowing this and take it in the right spirit. There is no single “national” language in India.
Article 343 of the Indian Constitution recognises Hindi in Devanāgarī script as the official language of the central government of India. The Constitution also allows for the continuation of use of the English language for official purposes. Article 345 provides constitutional recognition to “Official languages” of the union to include any language adopted by a state legislature as the official language of that state. In effect, there are “Official Languages at the state and center level but no one “national language”.
Hope this helps. You don’t “have” to learn to learn to speak in any language but it helps to “respect” languages other than your own.
Even for English the reason mentioned should not be just because it is international but it is in fact the most commonly used language for official purposes in the country even though the native speakers of that language are very few.
31 October 2007 at 6:04 pm
Vokkaliga -Lingayat combination can win anyway HDK and now BSY .
If congress is allowed , it may induct some irrelevant people like Dharam singh or Bangarappa etc.,The majorities are making the claims mean there will be no caste groupings in future like what is happening in Tamilnadu where the 0.01% population representative is ruling the state for more than 37 years! This is the reason why Tamilnadu has seen upsurgence of Vanniars,THevars etc
31 October 2007 at 6:12 pm
I am a Kannadiga person living in Coimbatore for years and we speak kannada only in our home still after morethan100 years from our ancestors reached here.There are good numbers of kannada speaking people found in various parts of Tamilnadu like Coimbatore-Mettupalayam(lot of vokkaligas)Bhavani-Komarapalayam, lot of devangars,Mettur-Salem etc.,
But the people who had settled long back are not at all regarded as Kannadigas and when violence erupts in Karnataka against the Tamils, here nothing of that kind happens.I have to admit that this is the generosity of the Tamils.Vokkaligas are having very friendlier relations with the local community in Coimbatore -Mettupalayam areas.
We feel that in Karnataka also the higher castes Vokkaliga and Lingayat seems the friendlier to the Tamils there and the likes of Rajkumar ,Bangarappa are creating the problems there.
31 October 2007 at 9:43 pm
DB avare,
my views remain the same. DG has my respect because he has guts and he walks, talks and behaves like the crook he is. if there is anyone who has the spine to even negotiate something with the center for karnataka, it is DG. BJP’s crybaby tactics and appeal to morality is an insult to my intelligence. as insulting as Congress’ claims of being ‘sekkulaar’. by now, it should be clear that yaaru saacha illa anta. you, TS, G3S and others had all but appropriated the moral high ground for BJP, which they surely dont deserve. do they?
and unfortunate as it is that BJP seems set to come to power, I repose my trust in Gowda. I am almost sure that he will take BJP for a ride around town before he dumps them unceremoniously. If he could do it to Cong, you think BJP manned by the pea-brained ‘nara’-less numbskulls stands a chance? Cant believe people can even think of Yeddi as CM material! enO yeddi CM aglilla andre avara swanta gaMT hOdaMg aaDtare. thoo. Avana mukha nodi.. CM aagO musuDina adu! ee Yeddi, useless ananthu .. ivarella dodda don-gaLu state BJPli.. karma.
31 October 2007 at 10:57 pm
Sisya,
Please enlighten us on what ‘gutsy’ projects Devegowda has got implemented for Karnataka? Some of us here hold the ‘conventional’ view that the man is only a cretinous gadfly, a Luddite of the worst order, and a perpetual trouble maker. He is probably the closest we have to a two-eyed Mullah Omar from Hassan district.
31 October 2007 at 11:12 pm
Sisya,
While we are on the same topic, I can safely say that Devegowda’s funeral will be the biggest one in the whole history of mankind! Do you know why? Almost 99.99% of the folk attending his funeral will be there just to make sure the man is really dead:)
1 November 2007 at 3:58 am
Sisya,
Your visceral hatred towards the BJP in general and Yeddi in particular is amusing. In fact several of us on this forum believe that Yeddi is playing Devegowda and he is always exposing the crude ethos of JD (S). I know it is hard for you to accept–but only and only due to Yeddi’s cunning Devegowda is behaving the way he is now. If Yeddi was not manipulating Devegowda, it would have been a different story. In fact, Yeddi should be given all the credit for making Devegowda the way he is now:)
Yeddi decided to work with Devegowda because he thinks Gowda is a fool and a simpleton; Yeddi knew that Gowda would try and cheat him and therefore he never stopped smiling. Have you ever seen Gowda smile? He cannot smile because Yeddi has commanded him not to smile–sorry about that! Think about this: how a former PM can write two letters to the governor whose contents vary with each other violently? Only because Yeddi made Gowda to write those letters. Yeddi made Gowda and sons cry because of his cruel and abusive words. Everybody knows that and you have seen the photos in newspapers. Yeddi used so much foul language HDK, Gowda and Revanna being soft-hearted angels started crying and they haven’t stopped crying and blabbering since. Sigh!
Yeddi wanted HDK to go on village stays because he could visit all the night spots in Bangalore. Why else would a CM go on village tours? You see the cunning Yeddi ensured that HDK is out of his way when he is doing his daily drinks and drugs and go knows what! Also, Yeddi has ordered Devegowda to stick to only ragi mudde and soppina saaru…I can go on and on,,,,bottomline: Yeddi is more dangerous than Devegowda. Just watch this space…
3 November 2007 at 12:27 am
[...] A few weeks ago the current state government was dismissed and President's rule was imposed. Churumuri has an excellent post outlining the current political status of the state: The yo-yo, on-off-on [...]
3 November 2007 at 9:43 am
[...] A few weeks ago the current state government was dismissed and President’s rule was imposed. Churumuri has an excellent post outlining the current political status of the state: The yo-yo, on-off-on [...]