The Election Commission of India deferring the bypolls to the Legislative Assembly from 15 constituencies has come as a respite for Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the the State, just as it has for the disqualified MLAs.
The Chief Minister, who was the main link between disqualified MLAs and the party, was in a spot owing to uncertainty over whether the MLAs will be able to contest the bypolls, earlier scheduled for October 21. The developments over the last few days, marked by protests by ticket aspirants from the party cadre who were opposed to fielding disqualified MLAs in their constituencies, were difficult to handle.
Some of the ticket aspirants in the BJP had even dropped hints of entering the poll fray even if the party did not give them ticket. This had caused concern in the Yediyurappa camp as political stability of his government depends on the outcome of these bypolls.
The Yediyurappa government, which has 105 MLAs in addition to the backing of an Independent member, needs to win a minimum of six seats in the bypolls to ensure its survival. But the party strategists feel that getting a simple majority will not help as that would be like living under the shadow of instability. The party’s target is to win as many seats as possible to prevent such a scenario. But that looks like a daunting task as most of the seats that are going to bypolls are the bastions of the opposition parties.
In this context, dissidence among the ticket aspirants from the party and their supporters had put the BJP, especially the Chief Minister, in a tight spot. A few attempts made by him to douse dissatisfaction among ticket aspirants had failed to yield results.
Temporary relief
The bypolls being deferred at this juncture has come as a temporary relief for the Chief Minister. Both the party and the Chief Minister know that they still have to go through the ordeal of convincing the party’s ticket aspirants to fall in line.
The development in the apex court has also brought cheer to the disqualified MLAs as it is the first legal relief for them ever since the then Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar disqualified them. Thursday’s order has triggered hopes of eventually getting legal relief among them.
