- The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka appears to squander several opportunities to corner the ruling Congress dispensation despite the latter finding itself in avoidable but embarrassing circumstances. Try as it might, the BJP top leadership must be feeling the heat as to why things are not going in the right direction for the state unit when it had an apparent upper hand not too far ago. The change of leadership at the top, the easing of the state party patriarch Yeddyurappa, not-so-strong second rung leadership, internal dissidence activities, lack of discipline/cohesiveness/commonality, and murmurs of adjustment politics with the ruling dispensation have marred the BJP’s bid to take on the might of the ruling dispensation.
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PC: Business Standard
- Mind you, the Congress government started with a bang when it went about implementing its five guarantee schemes as promised during the election campaign. The government completed two years last month but has been bogged down by a slew of allegations of corruption, scams, and wrongdoings. The Valmiki Corporation fund swindling, the MUDA land grab case involving no less than the family of the Chief Minister, far from a satisfactory law and order situation, especially, the communal killings in the coastal belt, and the latest deaths during the ill-timed and ill-adviced RCB victory celebrations have considerably damaged the reputation of the state government.
PC: India Today
- Not only in Karnataka and India but also overseas. Surprisingly, the BJP does not seem to press ahead with piling on the pressure on the government or make concerted efforts to corner the administration for misgovernance of the highest order. The half-hearted efforts of the BJP are simply allowing Congress to wriggle out of the sticky situation that it finds itself in unscathed. Of course, the tussle for power between the two powerful leaders, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, is becoming increasingly apparent. The one-upmanship between the two has prompted supporters from both sides to fire salvos at each other at any given opportunity. The division within the administration is not good at all.
PC: MyHighPlains.com
- The moot point to ponder over here is why the BJP leadership is not going full throttle at the Congress despite having great opportunities to build a negative opinion. The measures initiated by the government aftermath of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede deaths should have alerted the opposition to unleashing a concerted campaign highlighting the gross mismanagement of the entire celebratory event. Prima facie, the buck should stop at the top leadership of the state government for going ahead with the ill-timed and ill-planned victory celebrations. Sacking police officials and arresting an event management representative should have been vociferously contested by the BJP. It’s not too late. The BJP should go for the Congress’s jugular, and now.
