BENGALURU: With the government still struggling to overcome initial hiccups after Basavaraj Bommai took over as chief minister, BJP has decided to send national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh to Bengaluru to address the issues.
Singh is expected to arrive next week, and party sources said he will speak to legislators and ministers in a bid to douse the discontent which surfaced after cabinet expansion and allocation of portfolios.
The stated objective of replacing BS Yediyurappa was to ensure equitable representation and distribution of resources among regions and infusing fresh blood into the cabinet. To the dismay of ruling party legislators, both the objectives remained unmet as the new cabinet accommodated only seven first-timers while most of the old guard returned.
“Regions like Kodagu, identified as BJP’s stronghold, have been utterly neglected. It is heartbreaking for people of the district that it has no representation despite BJP sweeping all recent elections,” said Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan.
He said the district has been ‘Congress-free’ for about two decades, thanks to the overwhelming support of people to BJP. Madikeri was the only city corporation where BJP won when 10 urban local bodies (ULBs) across Karnataka went to polls in April, while Congress won seven. “Kodagu faced devastating floods for two successive years. Of the Rs 546 crore package announced, only Rs 200 crore has been released so far and people’s pleas are falling on deaf ears. Many districts are facing similar problems. We thought the change of guard will address this issue, but the new dispensation is more disappointing,” said Ranjan, pointing out that 13 districts are not being represented in the cabinet.
The discontent came to a head on Tuesday when Mudigere MLA MP Kumaraswamy staged a dharna on Vidhana Soudha premises, much to the embarrassment of the ruling party, in protest of the government neglecting his taluk in Chikkamagaluru district in terms of flood relief.
Many ministers are openly cribbing about insignificant portfolios given to them, with a major chunk of the funds going to two departments — irrigation and PWD (63% of capital expenditure estimated at Rs 43,358 crore). While minister Anand Singh’s rebellion came out in the open, many disgruntled legislators, including CP Yogeeshwara and Aravind Bellad, are camping in New Delhi.
The brass views the developments as ominous, especially ahead of elections to three ULBs — Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad and Kalaburagi — scheduled for next month, which are expected to be followed by zilla and taluk panchayat polls.
