BJP high command, stem the rot

Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa has breached all norms of propriety by submitting a written complaint to the governor against the alleged lapses by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in sanctioning funds to certain MLAs and his “authoritarian rule”. Normally, it is the Opposition that approaches the governor against the functioning of the government, but here is a rare case where a senior cabinet minister writes to the head of the state against his own chief minister.

By doing so, Eshwarappa has not only put the government to acute embarrassment and made it a laughing stock in the eyes of the public, but has also exposed the absence of cohesiveness within the Yediyurappa administration, which has anyway come out in the open on many other occasions. The right course of action for the minister would have been to discuss the issue directly with the chief minister and if his grouse persisted, the appropriate forum would have been the Cabinet.

Nonetheless, Eshwarappa’s allegations cannot be simply brushed aside as this is not the first time that such serious charges are levelled against the chief minister. Former Union minister and senior BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has on many occasions openly accused Yediyurappa and his family of corruption. Under normal circumstances, Eshwarappa would have been sacked from the ministry, while disciplinary action would have been initiated against Yatnal, but Yediyurappa has not been able to rein in either, giving credence to rumours that such acts of indiscipline may actually have the blessings of the high command.

There has been speculation for some time now that BJP is keen to replace the ageing Lingayat strongman with a young leader in preparation for the 2023 assembly elections, but Yediyurappa has been able to ward off all such moves. Nevertheless, his position has considerably weakened with the Karnataka High Court restoring trial against him in corruption and forgery cases, while a controversial CD involving a cabinet minister has singed his government’s image. The attack from within is seen as a ploy to further destabilise him.

One of the cardinal principles on which the cabinet functions is collective responsibility and Yediyurappa should learn to take everybody along, for his style of functioning had come into question earlier too. In 2010 for instance, 11 BJP MLAs who revolted against him, had petitioned the governor. The BJP, on its part, should either strengthen the hands of Yediyurappa or let him go, instead of allowing the uncertainty over his continuance in office to fester. Whatever be the internal politics of the party, governance should not be allowed to suffer.