Basavaraj Dhannur,an office-
bearerof the agitationcommittee to
recognise“Lingayatism”as a separ-
ate religion, said: “Most of the
Lingayatsin theStatesupport the
BJPas theyacceptYeddyurappa as
theirleaderandhopethathe willbe
madetheChiefMinisteroneday.If
thatdoesnothappen, theBJPis
likely to lose its support in the
community.”
Butit wouldbe a mistaketo treat
Yeddyurappa merelyas a Lingayat
leader.TheBJPoweshimmuchfor
his workin enhancingthe party’sap-
pealamongsectionsof OtherBack-
wardClassesandDalits.
TheLokSabhaelectionwasa
stunning reminderthattheJD(S)
cannotaffordto takefor grantedits
cloutin the Vokkaligacommunityin
its strongholdin theOldMysore
region.
Boththe BJPandthe rulingcom-
bineappearto be consideringthe
dominant sentimentamongMLAs:
of avoidingan immediateelection
sinceno oneseemsto be keenon
fightinganotherexpensiveelectoral
contestjusta yearafterthe lastone.
It wouldnot be surprisingif some
of the resignations are “recon-
sidered” aftera boutof hectic bar-
gaining.Even those whodo notbecomeMinisters mayseekto be
compensatedin otherwaysby the
government.In sucha situation,the
BJP’simmediate objectivemaywell
be to bringdown thegovernment.
Butinsteadof takinga jab at power
immediately,thepartymayprefer
freshelections aftera periodof Pres-
ident’sRule.
Thepartywouldexpectthemo-
mentumthatswept it to powerin the
LokSabhaelectionto remainintact
in suchan election, if andwhen it
happens. Fortheruling combine
thathas provedits utterincompatib-
ilitysinceit cameto power, that
oughtto be a frighteningprospect.
It is obviousthat the BJPis hop-
ingthatthepublicdisgustwiththe
machinationswithintherulingco-
alitionmayofferit a chance,onein
whichits ownmisdeeds of the past—
mostnotably the mega miningscan-
dalduringYeddyurappa’s steward-
ship—may be forgotten.
Karnatakamattersa greatdealto
the BJPbecauseit offersthe partyits
bestrouteto the Southwhere it is still
onlya marginalplayer.Its ill-dis-
guisedaspiration to a completedom-
inanceof theIndianpolitymakes
Karnatakacritical.Despiteall the
failingsof the rulingcoalitionin the
State,thefactthatKarnatakawas
ableto thwartthe BJPonslaughtof-
fershopeandrespite fromtheun-
bridled assault that Hindutva
threatensto unleash.
TheBJPnowhasthreepossible
options.It maybring downtheKu-
maraswamygovernment at the earli-
est andmakean immediateattempt
to gainpower; it maybring downthe
governmentbutallowthedissolu-
tionof the Assembly,pavingthe way
for President’sRule;or it mayaid
andabetthecontradictionswithin
the coalitionto sharpenthemfurther
andleadto its collapse.
Whateverthe BJPdoes,it is clear
thatthe nakeduseof money andre-
sourceswillplaya keyrole,some-
thingthathasbeendemonstratedin
thepast.It is alsolikelyto usekey
institutionssuchas theGovernor’s
office,apartfromthe vaststatema-
chineryavailableto it, to the hilt in its
pursuitof power,which is an even
morefrightening prospect. $TherebelMLAsconcealedthe
factthattheywouldfaceddis-
qualificationproceedingsif they
defied theirpartywhipsandvoted
againstthevoteof confidenceto
be moved by theChiefMinister
underParagraph2(1)(b)of the
TenthScheduleof theConstitu-
tion.ResignationfromtheAs-
sembly,therefore, providedthem
a convenientoptionto unseat an
electedgovernment, as it would
loseits majority in an Assembly
whoseeffective strength stood
reduced.
PREFERREDTORESIGN
The rebel MLAs preferred to
resignratherthanfacedisquali-
fication undertheTenthSched-
ule,eventhoughtheycouldhave
madethesame point to their
partyleadersthroughthelatter
optionandstillsought a fresh
mandate in a byelectionfor the
sameseat.
Theydidnotwishto be dis-
qualified becausetheywouldhave
becomeineligibleto becomeMin-
istersas Article 164(1B) of the
Constitutionbarsthosedisquali-
fied on thegroundsof defection
frombecomingMinisters if they
do notgetre-electedto theAs-
sembly.Article361Bimposesa
similarbaron thosedisqualified
underParagraph2 of theTenth
Schedule,followingtheirdefec-
tion,frombeingappointedto re-
munerativepoliticalposts.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi,
seniorcounselfortheSpeaker,
toldthe bench on July12 thatthe
rebelMLAswantedto achievethe
benefit, whichhadbeenexpressly
deniedto themunderthe Consti-
tutionon the groundsof theirde-
fectionanddefianceof theparty
leadership, by resigning fromthe
Assembly. Permittingsuchresig-
nation, therefore, would be a
fraudon the Constitution,he said.
Senior counsel Rajeev
Dhavan,representingChiefMin-
ister H.D. Kumaraswamy, said
thebenchshouldintrospecton
whetherit did the rightthingby
directingthe Speakeron July11 to
decideon the resignationson the
samedayin theevening without
hearingtheSpeakeror theChief
Minister.Thebench evenrefused
to heartheSpeakerin theafter-
noonon July11 whenhe moved an
applicationseeking relaxationof
thedeadlineimposedon himto
decide theresignationsof the
rebelMLAs. As a consequence,
the Speakerinsistedon following
the provisions of Article190(3)(b)
in letterandspiritandsought
moretimeto decide on the resig-
nationsof therebelMLAs as the
Supreme Court’sorderlefthim
withno other option.
V.Venkatesan