It’s BJP vs BJP in Karnataka as the B S Yediyurappa administration has come under fire from its own leaders over the handling of the second Covid-19 wave.
After BJP general secretary C T Ravi rapped those responsible for the deaths of 24 Covid-19 patients due to oxygen shortage at the Chamarajanagar district hospital on Monday, it was the turn of Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya the following day to expose a bed-blocking scam in the government-controlled BBMP, reflecting poorly on the administration that is already bloodied with criticism.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa holds the Bengaluru City Development portfolio.
BJP general secretary N Ravikumar said the alleged bed-blocking scam cannot be blamed on the government as there was no political interference. “It is the responsibility of officials,” he said, rejecting reports that it was part of a ploy to unsettle Yediyurappa.
Almost all of CM’s critics belong to that section of the BJP that is seen as loyal to the party’s national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, who is considered Yediyurappa’s bete noire.
As both the state government and BBMP are under BJP rule, the developments have embarrassed the Yediyurappa administration. There are also talks of renewed efforts to unsettle the CM by continuing attacks from within the party ranks.
“Ever since the first wave of the pandemic subsided a bit, Yediyurappa has relentlessly come under fire from within the party ranks,” a political observer, under condition of anonymity, noted.
While Umesh Katti threatened to rebel last year - he was sulking for not being made a minister - BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has put the CM in a spot of bother with his public outbursts.
According to political analyst Chambi Puranik, Surya and other BJP MLAs performed the role of the Opposition by unearthing the scam. “The expose is an embarrassment for the government, but is too unfair to surmise it as hidden agenda,” he said, adding that the expose was against the system itself.
Even within the administration, there is said to be ill-will among ministers over handling the pandemic.
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