Facing a barrage of questions over the recent floods will be one of the major challenges for the B.S. Yediyurappa government during the three-day winter session of the State legislature that will begin on Thursday.
While a new government usually does not face serious attack from the Opposition at least for the first 100 days — which is considered to be a “grace period” — the BJP government came under attack from the very first week of its inception, perhaps because of the manner in which it was formed (by wooing MLAs from rival camps). The legislature session will provide a formal forum for the Opposition to vent its ire .
Chief Minister Yediyurappa will have to face attack not only over the “delay” in getting Central relief, but also over the alleged failure of the regime to effectively respond to the problems of flood victims. The Opposition is likely to pick a cue from the recent incidents of flood victims and farmers expressing their anguish during the CM’s visit to Belagavi.
Of funds and ‘vendetta’
The Opposition is also waiting to launch an attack over the alleged discrimination in allocation of funds. There are charges that funds to constituencies represented by MLAs of the Opposition camp have been trimmed to increase the allocation to those that selected BJP MLAs, especially the constituencies of disqualified MLAs who helped the party to come to power.
This apart, the rival political camps have also raised allegations of “political vendetta”, particularly in the Enforcement Directorate’s action against former Minister D.K. Shivakumar. The Janata Dal (S) has been attributing the Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into alleged telephone tapping by the then coalition government to political vendetta and is waiting to raise the issue during the session.
Other issues such as alleged corruption in transfer of officials and reduction of funds for some of the schemes sanctioned by the earlier government are also expected to be raised.
Troubled Opposition
However, the BJP Ministers and leaders feel that reducing the duration of the session to only three days will reduce the opportunity for the Opposition to go into the details of any contentious issue. Also, they feel that the Opposition itself is not in the best shape. “The complexity over selection of a Leader of the Opposition appears to have driven a wedge among the Congress leaders, while the JD(S) is focussing on keeping its flock together,” a BJP leader said.
But BJP leaders admit that the undercurrent of dissatisfaction among its own leaders is a cause of concern. “The lack of homogeneity is visible in the government,” a senior MLA said. They are concerned this may provide a new dimension to the attack from the Opposition.
The BJP Legislature Party will meet in Bengaluru on Wednesday to chalk out strategies ahead of the session.
