Corruption allegations, infighting take wind out of BJP, JD(S) sails

NT Correspondent Bengaluru: At a time when the Opposition BJP and JD(S) are trying to corner the ruling Congress over corruption charges, internal friction and graft allegations against their own has undermined them. A once buoyed Opposition is demanding that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resign over the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment case and the Valmiki Corporation illegal money transfer scam. However, the State government responded by raking up corruption allegations against Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly R Ashoka, Council LOP Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, BJP state president BY Vijayendra, former ministers Murugesh Nirani, Shashikala Jolle, G Janardhana Reddy and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Ashoka is accused of illegally acquiring government land in Lotegollahalli in Bengaluru, which he has since returned.

Vijayendra is facing a case for allegedly illegally awarding a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) tender. Narayanaswamy is facing the heat for acquiring government land in Hosakote in Bengaluru Rural district for the construction of a school and then using it to build a restaurant. Kumaraswamy and former CM BS Yediyurappa stand accused of illegally de-notifying BDA land in Ganga Nagar in Bengaluru during the latter’s rein in 2008. The land ended up with Kumaraswamy’s brotherin- law TS Channappa. The JD(S) bigwig is also facing illegal mining cases.

Yatnal diatribes continue; Moreover, rebel BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, recently took an indirect dig at Vijayendra, claiming that “a great leader” had set aside Rs 1,000 crore acquired by corruption, to poach MLAs and topple the Congress government. This led to censure from the saffron party and a police complaint from the Congress. Yatnal and fellow lawmakers MLAs Ramesh Jarikholi, CT Ravi and party national general secretary BL Santosh are opposed to the hold Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa has on the party through his son and other loyalists. Ramesh has even called Vijayendra corrupt before in public. As many as 40 BJP rebel leaders including Yatnal, MLA BP Harish, former MPs GM Siddeshwar and Pratap Simha met at the Gowdara Mallikarjunappa Institute of Technology (GMIT) in Davangere late last month. GMIT is owned by Siddeshwar’s family. Yatnal even promised a “political revolution” in Karnataka by the end of the year. He is rumoured to be planning to float a Hindutva party alongside former minister KS Eshwarappa. The idea is also to cobble together an alliance of Yatnal’s community, the Panchamasalis, the most populous sect among the Lingayats, and Eshwarappa’s caste, the Kurubas.

Saffron party losing steam? Mysore University political Science professor Muzaffar Assadi pointed out that BJP lost face due to graft charges and infighting. “They had taken an anti-corruption stand against the Congress. Now that they’re facing corruption charges of their own, it is extremely difficult to change the perception and counter the State government,” he said. However, he described Yatnal’s Rs 1,000 crore charge as a “hit and run” statement with no proof. Assadi also cautioned that if the Congress kept attacking the likes of Kumaraswamy, it might cause his fellow Vokkaligas to rally behind him.