This Week Karnataka

Lokayukta no longer seems what it was

Since the retirement of N Santosh Hegde as Lokayukta,the institution has seen some of its reputation eroded. His replacement Shivaraj V Patil has exited amid accusations of impropriety. Senior police officers handpicked by Hegde,and who helped give the agency its sheen of credibility,have either moved on or been moved out. Efforts to fill up such vacancies are being dictated,say insiders,by the preferences of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa who is being investigated for corruption. Among the positions vacant are those of a DGP and an SP Bangalore city. One SP posted with Yeddyurappas nod had to beat a retreat after his name was shown as linked to bribes detailed in a Lokayukta report on illegal mining. The choice of another officer was nixed by Patil after he too was shown as linked to the racket.

Yeddyurappa wanted to join Anna wave

At the height of Anna Hazares fast in August,former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa wanted to sit on a day8217;s protest to express solidarity with the anti-corruption cause. Facing a series of corruption charges,Yeddyurappa saw an opportunity to cleanse himself in the 8220;I am Anna8221; campaign. The BJP high command and his supporters had to work overtime to dissuade Yeddyurappa against embarrassing everybody. On the day assigned for Yeddyurappa8217;s protest,a group of ministers loyal to him eventually sat under a pandal at Bangalores Gandhi statue. They quietly dispersed after a couple of hours.

A Caste twist in Darshan drama too

That caste is all-pervading in Karnataka is well known. The recent arrest of Kannada film star S Darshan for battering his wife,Vijayalakshmi,has seen its share of caste-related twists in the plot. Rumours have been spread that the filmstar who is perceived to be a Vokkaliga a caste from the southern parts of Karnataka is being punished by a government run primarily by Lingayats a caste from the northern parts. Darshan is not really a Vokkaliga,his popularity in the southern part of the state notwithstanding. He belongs to the small,Telugu-speaking Balija community.

Actress ramyas first steps in politics

Popular Kannada actress Ramya,or Divya Spandana,is sometimes asked whether she is the daughter of veteran Congress leader and Minister for External Affairs S M Krishna. Despite the lack of obvious political lineage,Ramya took her first plunge into politics by contesting grassroots polls for the Youth Congress in Karnataka and won. Shedding her otherwise glamorous image,the actress intelligently turned out in a cotton saree to vote. The word out on the street is that she could even be the next Youth Congress president. Since 2003,Ramya has acted in around two dozen films.