Basavaraj Bommai’s worst foes are in his own party!

By Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: I s there is a coup within the BJP for the removal of Basavaraj Bommai from the post of chief minister?

A close confidant of the Shiggaon MLA feels so given the exposure of scams one after the other in the last six months. It started with the hijab row, murder of a Bajrang Dal activist in Shivamogga, Hubballi riots and the daily threat of right-wing outfits to Muslims just to create animosity against the government.

With this, the ‘coup’ plotters wanted to defame the CM and prove him incapable of handling serious situations. One reason for this could be that Bommai’s name was proposed by B.S.Yediyurappa at the time he stepped down from the CM post. In fact, Revenue Minister R Ashok was considered the ‘Manasa Putra’ of Yediyurappa and thought his name may be recommended because of his seniority as well as experience of handling the Deputy Chief Minister post.

But Yediyurappa chose another Lingayat to succeed him as he wanted somebody to listen to ‘His Master’s Voice’.

Since that day, Bommai is not getting help from a majority of his ministerial colleagues. Like Abhimanyu in the Mahabharat, he was left in the Chakravyuha of the Opposition Congress party and no senior minister rushed to his rescue. The unhappy ministers have reportedly joined hands with the Congress Party to expose one scam after the other only to embarass Bommai.

Sources close to the CM said the hostility began after Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that the party would go to the 2023 Assembly elections under Bommai’s leadership. Since then the CM aspirants in the BJP have turned the tables against Bommai and are doing everything to tarnish the image of the government. Many contentious issues were not brought to the notice of the CM till they assumed serious proportions, the best example being the hijab row. The issue which could have been addressed at the local level, was made a national controversy. This angered Delhi leaders who had hoped Bommai would prove to be a good administrator.