Mud-slinging in Karnataka as House set to dissolve

Sources close to Prakash said the former home minister and a key leader of the Lingayat community has the support of over 20 of the 45-odd JD(S) MLAs in the outgoing Assembly. Prakash, who has been a critic of Gowda’s politics, attempted to break away from the JD(S) in October, after Gowda denied BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa, also a Lingayat, the opportunity to become CM.

At a meeting in Hubli on Monday, Prakash stated that he had had enough of the JD(S) under Deve Gowda. “I will not be in a party with no internal democracy and freedom of expression. I have decided to say goodbye to the JD(S),” he said.

Earlier on Monday, the BJP, which re-embarked on its ‘punish the betrayers’ campaign that was aborted when the JD(S) offered it a taste of power, threatened to expose the corruption of the Gowda family. Yeddyurappa, whose seven-day tenure as CM ended on November 19, announced at the launch of the renewed ‘Dharma Yuddha’ that his party would like to have an inquiry into the Gowda family’s iron-ore mining affairs and their roles in the allotment of some key real estate projects. “The JD(S) ministers approved a township project worth crores when BJP ministers were not in attendance. This has to be investigated,” Yeddyurappa said while calling upon the Governor to cancel the decision.

The JD(S), on the other hand, has brought out its own set of allegations against the BJP and Yeddyurappa. Deve Gowda’s sons H D Revanna and H D Kumaraswamy have accused Yeddyurappa’s sons of making profits on a scheme to provide bicycles to rural girls by hiking the purchase price of the bicycles. Kumaraswamy has also accused Yeddyurappa of demanding Rs five crore to quit the BJP and join the JD(S) in the early stages of power negotiations between the two parties. The former CM has further questioned the BJP leader’s allotment of contracts for building minor airports in Shimoga and Gulbarga even before he had proved his majority in the Assembly.

By Monday evening, the Congress also jumped into mud-slinging and demanded a stop to all decisions taken by the JD(S) and the BJP in their last days in office. “We will approach the Governor to ask him to halt all unilateral decisions taken by ministries under the JDS and the BJP,” KPCC president Mallikarjun Kharge said.