The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A political carnival with saffron overtones at the seat of power

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A political carnival with saffron overtones at the seat of power

T.S. Ranganna and K.V. Subramanya

BJP workers were simply unstoppable at the ceremony

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

DELIRIOUS: BJP workers went ballistic shouting slogans and beating drums at the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP-led Government in Bangalore on Monday.

BANGALORE: It was a virtual takeover by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the entire area in and around Vidhana Soudha. All the roads leading to the Secretariat — Bellary Road, Magadi Road, Tumkur Road, Old Madras Road and Kanakapura Road including the ring roads — witnessed hundreds of buses with Sangh Parivar activists coming from the different districts and towns of the State.

There was a canopy of flags, banners, posters and buntings, all in saffron, on the roads with the visages of BJP leaders such as A.B. Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu prominent at vantage points.

Show of strength

The swearing-in ceremony, which was a show of strength by the BJP, exposed the strained relationship between the party and its coalition partner Janata Dal (Secular).

In February 2006, when H.D. Kumaraswamy was sworn in Chief Minister with Mr. Yeddyurappa as his deputy, the BJP had put up banners and posters with the pictures of the two leaders.

But on Monday, the BJP posters and banners had no mention of the Janata Dal (S). However, some Janata Dal (S) workers had put up larger-than-life cut-outs of party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy. All these cut-outs and posters were sponsored by realtor Gottigere Manju, who was recently in the news following income tax raids on his residence.

For a good measure, Mr. Manju’s photograph was prominent in the posters.

Buses and more buses

Unlike such occasions in the past, the VVIP routes such as T. Chowdiah Road, Kumara Krupa Road, Queens Road and Palace Road were full of buses which brought thousands of villagers from the BJP strongholds. Vacant spaces such as the Palace Grounds were occupied by these vehicles. However, large contingents of people came from Shimoga district, particularly Shikaripura, which sent the Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to the Legislative Assembly, Kolar district, especially Malur constituency which had elected Krishnaiah Shetty, a staunch Yeddyurappa supporter, Bukanakere in K.R. Pet of Mandya district, the birth place of the new Chief Minister.

Mr. Yeddyurappa is the fourth leader from Shimoga district to occupy the position of the Chief Minister. They raised slogans renting the air, each time his name was heard.

It was an ocean of humanity on Kasturba Road, Cubbon Road, Krishnarajendra Road, T. Chowdiah Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Palace Road, Race Course Road and Seshadri Road. At many places on the roads, cultural troupes enthralled the BJP supporters.

Notable absentees

The entire band of leaders such as Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council H.K. Patil, virtually boycotted the swearing-in ceremony.

Mr. Deve Gowda was conspicuous by his absence. Mr. Yeddyurappa insisted he had invited them over telephone but he reckoned might have not attended owing to some prior commitments.

But Mr. Kumaraswamy, flanked by the former Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy and Patil Puttappa, journalist, sat among the audience.

Also absent were leaders from the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti and writers who used to espouse secularism. However, some writers such as M. Chidananda Murthy and G.R. Channabasappa participated.

Mandyada Gandu

Mandya MP and actor M.H. Ambareesh has apparently found a new rival in Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. All these years Mr. Ambareesh alone was referred to as “Mandyada Gandu”. But during the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister, a large contingent of BJP supporters from Mandya district kept on shouting “Mandyada Gandu Bookanakere Yeddyurappa Zindabad.” Mr. Yeddyurappa, who has settled at Shikaripur in Shimoga district for the past three decades, is a native of Bookanakere in K.R. Pet taluk in Mandya district.

A showpiece

Among the nearly 40,000-strong crowd that had gathered near the Vidhana Soudha, it was a group of around 100 burkha-clad women which drew everyone’s attention.

These women were among thousands of BJP supporters from Malur in Kolar district who had come to witness the installation of the first BJP Government in Karnataka.

Pointing towards these slogan-shouting women who were carrying portraits of the Malur MLA Krishnaiah Shetty, a BJP worker was heard telling the other that their party can no longer be termed as anti-Muslim.

Watered down?

Not all those who turned up at the swearing-in ceremony were happy with Mr. Yeddyurappa. A few people who were sweating profusely after continuously beating the drums were offered buttermilk sachets by the BJP workers. On seeing the buttermilk sachet, a drum beater, in a reference to the arrack ban, complained bitterly: “All these years, people who hired us gave us arrack sachets. Because of Yeddyurappa, we have been forced to drink buttermilk or tender coconut.”

A special advertisement pullout brought out by a Kannada daily to mark the occasion came in handy for some BJP workers from the distant north Karnataka districts who had apparently not slept during their journey to Bangalore Sunday night.

They took a quick nap after spreading the free pullout on the lawn on the road median in front of the Vidhana Soudha. Soon they were oblivious to the deafening slogan shouting and drum beating.

Fireworks

Several BJP supporters had to return disappointed as they could not hear Mr. Yeddyurappa taking the oath. Even as he was taking the oath of office, party workers burst huge quantity of firecrackers.

While nothing was heard in the high decibel sound generated by crackers, the din scared away hundreds of pigeons and other birds nestling in Cubbon Park.

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