BENGALURU: Yeddyurappa might have fought a long and sustained campaign to bring down the coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy, but it now seems that he has a bigger campaign ahead of him, that of forming a stable government.
Even before he becomes the Chief Minister again, he still has a few challenges to tackle. The petition of the disgruntled MLAs is still pending before the Speaker who will continue till Yeddyurappa proves his majority in the house.
The Lingayat strongman will have to walk a tightrope to prove his majority in the House, get a new Speaker installed and get the Finance Bill passed, all within the next few days.
While the BJP has launched a campaign pushing for Speaker Ramesh Kumar to resign on moral grounds after the coalition’s confidence motion was defeated, it seems that Yeddyurappa will most likely have to prove his party’s majority before Ramesh Kumar.
Outside the assembly, the CM-in-waiting has to deal with taking command of the BJP rank and file, besides having to deal with the rebel MLAs. With many aspirants from within the BJP looking to be part of his cabinet, Yeddyurappa will also have to accommodate a majority of the rebels should they not be disqualified.
In making all these moves to keep everyone satisfied, he will also have to take the consent and support of the central leadership, keep all sections of society in good humour while sending them a strong message to better the BJP’s chances in the ensuing bypolls.
The litmus test for Yeddyurappa will be in Southern Karnataka, where a majority of the seats that will head to bypolls fall, most of them Vokkaliga dominated constituencies. Closer home, in Bengaluru, he will have to keep R Ashoka and V Somanna close as he will need their help to take control of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Already there are reports of a section of workers from K R Puram and Mahalakshmi Layout being unhappy with the party considering admitting the rebel MLAs as they had fought tooth and nail against them during the elections. Yeddyurappa should see that the rebellion is diffused and also keep them accommodated so that they will not go against the official candidates in the by election.
Besides all the politics, there is also the drought to deal with and once he consolidates his government, Yeddyurappa will have to immediately start with relief programmes to assist people across the state suffering from water scarcity, get additional grants from the centre and focus on better fiscal management.