Hidden waters,high places

The way to a Ministry in this case is reportedly through a temple pond.

The way to a Ministry in this case is reportedly through a temple pond. The buzz in political circles here is that former Karnataka minister Shobha Karandlaje has been told by astrologers that she would be re-inducted in the BJP cabinet when the hidden pond at the Someshwara Temple is restored. Hawkers and pavement shop owners beside the temple were at the receiving end when the city corporation rolled in with bulldozers and cranes to tear down their makeshift structures. Karandlaje,BSYs confidante,was removed from her post in the wake of the an attempt by the mining barons,the Reddy brothers,to dislodge the CM last year. Over the last few months she has demonstrated that she still has the CMs ear by getting him to visit the Someshwara temple and to issue directions to local authorities to bide her requests to clear the temple yard of encroachments.

The wrong connection

The ruling BJP government in Karnataka is busy collecting information to be used against the Opposition in the coming days. While digging up dirt on the Opposition from the illegal iron ore mining business has become a long running project,the BJP now also believes it has dope on connections between some Janata Dal Secular leaders and Kerala politician Abdul Naser Madani - arrested by the Bangalore police for the July 25,2008 blasts in Bangalore. The telephone number of at least one JDS leader from Bangalore,Zameer Ahmed,a close associate of former CM H D Kumaraswamy,has emerged in investigations of Madanis telephone numbers. Sources say Ahmed,a follower of Madani,contacted him regarding political rallies in Karnataka.

Size doesnt matter

New Karnataka Chief Justice J S Khehar recently spoke out on behalf of the judiciary in the illegal mining issue. He announced that judges are not swayed by size of the profit and losses of companies and that all companies are treated equal. The judge expressed the view during the course of hearing of a series of petitions filed by major mining companies against a ban on export of iron ore from Karnataka. Over the years profit and loss do not matter to judges. A company making shoes is as important as a mineral units, he said. The High Court has been attempting to mediate between the government and the mining companies to resolve the issue of the ban on iron ore exports imposed by the Karnataka government in the face of allegations of illegal mining.

Drawing the line

The BJP has over several days been engaged in protests around Karnataka over Governor H R Bhardwajs decision to send a new bill prohibiting cow slaughter in Karnataka to the President for her assent. The Governor is vested with the power to reserve a Bill for consideration of the President. The protests have drawn an angry reaction from the Governor. I am a Brahmin. I need not learn from anybody about cow protection, he said recently in the latest episode of the running feud between the Raj Bhavan and the BJP government. If there is no problem,I give assent. If there is a problem it is referred to the President. There is no shortcut when it comes to Constitutional matters. If they want shortcuts,I will not allow it, he said.