It took six days and all of the new Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda's negotiating skills to break the stalemate between the two factions of the State Bharatiya Janata Party on the constitution of the Council of Ministers. The 21 legislators, including one woman, sworn in by Governor H.R. Bhardwaj were all Ministers holding the very same portfolios under B.S. Yeddyurappa. Mr. Gowda's arrangement appears to have satisfied both groups for the present. Although he has inducted 12 members from the Yeddyurappa faction and nine from the group identified with Jagadish Shettar, he balanced this perceived tilt by dropping two former Ministers who are Yeddyurappa-loyalists. The demand by the pro-Shettar faction for the appointment of two deputy chief ministers from the group was rejected on the grounds that it would further polarise a divided party. The Bellary group, comprising former Tourism Minister G. Janardhan Reddy, former Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy, and former Health Minister B. Sriramulu, who were indicted in the Karnataka Lokayukta report on illegal mining, have been kept out. However, Mr. V. Somanna, whose sons' names figure in the report, has been inducted as Housing Minister. With the maximum number of Ministers in a 225-member Legislative Assembly fixed at 34, Mr. Gowda can expand his Council of Ministers by another 12.
Though initially perceived as a proxy for his powerful predecessor, Mr. Gowda, it would appear, is keen to strike a neutral path, demonstrated in his scheme for resolving the Ministry-formation conflict. Meanwhile, several high profile corruption cases involving BJP leaders before the Lokayukta Special Court are entering a decisive phase, with former Industries Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu and his son remanded in judicial custody in a land-grab case, and Mr. Yeddyurappa himself being issued summons to appear before the court in a land-related case. In the second edition of its tenure and with another two years left, the BJP government, led by Mr. Gowda, can act decisively to rid itself of the taint of corruption, an image ingrained in the popular imagination and reflected in a recent poll that shows 52 per cent of respondents in Karnataka saying the State government is more corrupt than the central government, which is quite a feat in itself. Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda must learn from the mistakes of the past and focus attention on the tasks ahead, namely, to provide an honest and efficient administration that will clean up the mining sector, fulfil the slew of promises the previous administration made to farmers, and improve rural infrastructure, especially power supply.
Source: The Hindu
Though initially perceived as a proxy for his powerful predecessor, Mr. Gowda, it would appear, is keen to strike a neutral path, demonstrated in his scheme for resolving the Ministry-formation conflict. Meanwhile, several high profile corruption cases involving BJP leaders before the Lokayukta Special Court are entering a decisive phase, with former Industries Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu and his son remanded in judicial custody in a land-grab case, and Mr. Yeddyurappa himself being issued summons to appear before the court in a land-related case. In the second edition of its tenure and with another two years left, the BJP government, led by Mr. Gowda, can act decisively to rid itself of the taint of corruption, an image ingrained in the popular imagination and reflected in a recent poll that shows 52 per cent of respondents in Karnataka saying the State government is more corrupt than the central government, which is quite a feat in itself. Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda must learn from the mistakes of the past and focus attention on the tasks ahead, namely, to provide an honest and efficient administration that will clean up the mining sector, fulfil the slew of promises the previous administration made to farmers, and improve rural infrastructure, especially power supply.
Source: The Hindu
