Yeddy prevails as Shettar is the lone minister to be sworn in
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Nov 17:  Karnataka legislative assembly speaker Jagdish Shettar, who stepped down from his post on Monday, was inducted into the 18-month-old B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP ministry at a simple function at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.

The state governor H R Bharadwaj administered the oath of office and secrecy to Shettar in the presence of the Reddy brothers and his supporters. Senior cabinet ministers and top officials were present during the swearing-in ceremony.

Though Shettar had reportedly demanded the large and medium industries or public works department portfolios, it is understood that he may have to be content with the rural development and panchayat raj portfolio for the time being. Speculation is also ripe that Shettar might be given the revenue portfolio held by Gali Karunakara Reddy, who might be shifted to large and industries department, after the coordination committee clears the details. The chief minister is expected to allocate the portfolio tonight.

Shettar, a prominent leader from north Karnataka region belonging to the politically powerful Lingayat or Veerashaiva community to which the chief minister also belongs, had been propped up the Bellary mining lords led by tourism and infrastructure minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his elder brother and revenue minister Gali Karunakara Reddy and their supporters as the alternative to replace Yeddyurappa.

The chief minister was forced to virtually surrender to the Bellary Reddy brothers, who refused to budge from their demand for change of leadership for two full weeks, after the intervention of the party high command and their self-appointed ``amma’’ Sushma Swaraj following his consent to yield to their demands of dropping his protégé Shobha Karandlaje from the ministry and shunting his principlal secretary V P Baligar besides rescinding the transfers of almost all  ``loyalist and faithful’’ officers of the Reddy brothers.

However, it must be acknowledged that the chief minister, though cornered and coerced into dropping his protégé Shobha Karandlaje from the cabinet and rescinding the transfers of almost all officials in the wake of the battle of dissidence waged by the all powerful Bellary Reddy brothers, Yeddyurappa successfully resisted the combined pressures mounted on him to induct the followers of Shettar or those of the Reddy brothers.

In the process, it was Shettar alone, who could become a minister on the very next day after quitting his speaker’s post. Yeddyurappa could at least boast of standing up to the Reddy brothers – obviously for a limited period – and refusing to induct others into the cabinet even though there is one more clear vacancy in the ministry as V Somanna had resigned his post following his defeat in the assembly by-election.

But, with the coordination committee comprising representatives of the Reddy brothers, state party president D V Sadananda Gowda and BJP central leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitely and RSS leaders Santhosh and Satish to oversee the actions of the chief minister and the government scheduled to meet on Wednesday after a legislature party meeting, the chief minister may not be able to resist toeing the line of dissidents for long.

The chief minister is under pressure to drop public works minister C M Udasi, large and medium industries minister Murugesh Nirani and water resources minister Basavaraja Bommai, all of whom belong to the Lingayat community and are known to be close supporters of Yeddyurappa.

Udasi is tipped to be installed as the new speaker of the state assembly, which is scheduled to meet for a brief 10-day winter session from December 14. However, there are moves to elevate the present deputy speaker K G Bopaiah or shunt law and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar, who is another staunch Yeddyurappa follower, in the speaker’s post.

For the 54-year-old Shettar, who had practiced law for two decades, this is the second occasion to become a minister after his first stint in the H D Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-BJP coalition ministry in 2006. He had served as the state president of BJP and had been elevated as the opposition leader in 1999, when Yeddyurappa had lost his assembly seat of Shikaripura in Shimoga district.

When the BJP rode to power in 2008 following the refusal of Kumaraswamy to honour the promise on transfer of power, Shettar was persuaded by the party leadership to become the speaker as the chief minister was not amenable to have a prominent Lingayat community leader from North Karnataka region as the rallying point for dissidents.

There are very few instances of a speaker quitting his post midway during the term of the assembly to join the government as a minister in the state barring the case of present union foreign minister S M Krishna resigning his post to join the Veerappa Moily government as deputy chief minister in 1993. In the past, H Siddaiah had given up his speaker’s post to become a minister in the Kengal Hanumanthaiah government in 1954.