Corridors of Power

Reel war of former CMs

The people of Karnataka, who watch plenty of political drama day in and day out on TV channels, may watch more of it on the big screen soon. The animosity between former Chief Ministers H.D. Kumaraswamy and B.S. Yeddyurappa, friends-turned-foes of the erstwhile JD(S)-BJP alliance, may hit the big screen if all goes according to plan. Both the former CMs, it is learnt, are keen on presenting their perception on what went wrong in the power transfer in 2007.

Popular director S. Narayan is engaged in making

Bhumiputra , starring Arjun Sarja, which is about the 20-month tenure of Mr. Kumaraswamy. The timing of the launch and release of

Bhumiputra has raised eyebrows in political circles and is being viewed as an attempt by Mr. Kumaraswamy to boost his political image.

Apprehensive that this might “distort facts”, the BJP is also toying with the idea of launching a film on Mr. Yeddyurappa. Tejaswini, former MP, has said that BJP workers were putting pressure on her to direct the film to project Mr. Yeddyurappa — who is working overtime to bring the BJP to power in the State — as the next Chief Minister and to expose Mr. Kumaraswamy’s “opportunistic politics”.

Food for political fight

With the Legislative Assembly elections scheduled for next year, leaders cutting across party lines have been making all-round efforts to woo Dalits. State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa and other leaders hit upon the idea of having breakfast every day in a Dalit household during their ongoing “drought study tour” — an effort to show their “inclusiveness”. But they seem to have bitten off more than they can chew.

Dalit activists as well Congress and JD(S) leaders have launched an attack on them, calling the whole exercise no more than a drama to get Dalit votes. This is because the drought tour party was apparently eating food brought to their homes from hotels and not cooked in Dalit households at both Tumakuru and Chitradurga.

To counter the criticism, the BJP has claimed that breakfast was brought from hotel with the permission of the families as more than 150 people had visited the homes along with BJP leaders. The party says it was only to ease the burden on the family.

In the name of Krishna

Hassan Urban Development Authority recently allotted sites in S.M. Krishna Layout. Interestingly, the project was proposed by the authority when Mr. Krishna was Chief Minister. Naming the layout after him had raised eyebrows back then. For nearly 15 years, the project had seen many controversies and taken many twists and turns. Initially, land losers opposed the compensation allotted and moved court seeking a higher amount.

Later, the matter was resolved with the authorities providing compensation in the form of developed land.

When the Janata Dal (Secular) was in power, the project did not see any progress. Senior officials in the Urban Development Department often said the project was delayed because it was named after a Congress leader. There was some progress during the BJP rule, and finally the sites were allotted, amidst protest by the land losers seeking higher compensation, when the Congress came to power again. Ironically, S.M. Krishna left the Congress just as the sites were allotted.

Muralidhara Khajane

Nagesh Prabhu

Sathish G.T.