News headlines


New Indian Express

BANGALORE, Jan 19: Was the high-tension political drama that unfolded on Wednesday a clever ploy by Janata Dal(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda to install his ‘pet’ son H D Kumaraswamy as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka?

If one goes by the sequence of events in the last couple of days and back-room parleys in the party, the new poster-boy of the JD(S) must have had the blessings of his father.

It is hard to believe that Kumaraswamy’s actions had no support from Deve Gowda. Kumaraswamy, a first-time MLA and a political novice, managed to cobble up support of a whopping 41 of the 49 MLAs of his party and parade them before the Governor.

All this without the nod, tacit or otherwise, of Gowda? Impossible. Nobody has the courage or gall to antagonise Gowda openly.

In the present move, the JD(S) has hit three birds in one shot: the Congress, no doubt, is the first one; Siddaramiah’s ambition to trample the JD(S); the hope of senior leaders in the JD(S) to inherit the mantle from Gowda.

What remains to be seen whether Gowda would stand by his letter asking the Governor not to give credence to his son’s claim to withdraw support to the Dharam Singh-led Government and form an alternative dispensation with the help of the BJP or take a hard stance on this issue.

Right from day one of the coalition government, the father and the son have been taking divergent stands on the coalition.

While Gowda always distanced himself from the BJP by terming it a “communal force”, Kumaraswamy was seen hob-nobbing with the BJP leaders, giving them hopes and promises of forming the government.

While Gowda succeeded in removing former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the main stumbling block in Kumaraswamy’s path was the claims of other senior leaders like M P Prakash and P G R Scindhia, now holding important portfolios in the Dharam Singh-led Cabinet.

After the removal of Siddaramaiah, Gowda could not accommodate Kumaraswamy and instead was forced to go by the seniority and make Prakash the Deputy CM.

Kumaraswamy missed the bus and did not find a place in the JD(S)-Cong coalition.

Political analysts view this as a ploy by Gowda to isolate seniors in the party who may otherwise pose a threat to his “pet son” making to the top post.

Whether Gowda will stand by his son or to his party’s ideology of not going near the BJP will be seen in the coming days.

It is hard to believe that Kumaraswamy’s actions had no support from Deve Gowda.

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