BENGALURU: BS Yediyurappa on Friday took over as Chief Minister at a time when the state is facing political uncertainty and instability. But navigating choppy waters is not new to the veteran leader, who had handled a similar situation after the 2008 assembly polls.
Given the party’s numbers in the assembly, challenge to accommodate rebels and loyalists in the government and the upcoming must-win bypolls, Yediyurappa has a tough task ahead of him over the next few months.
His immediate priority will be to win the trust vote and get the Finance Bill cleared in the assembly by the end of this month. That may not be a difficult task as in all probability, the numbers during Yediyurappa’s trust vote are likely to remain the same as that of Tuesday’s confidence motion. The party has to ensure that the rebels abstain from the session to keep the numbers at 99 for Congress-JDS and 105 for the BJP.
His next big challenge will be ministry expansion. The Chief Minister may have to accommodate few rebels, who helped him pull down the coalition government, and also many seniors within the party. It may be a tightrope walk given the high number of aspirants for cabinet berths within the party and the CM cannot exceed the maximum number of 34.
Once that is done, the CM will have to focus on winning at least seven out of 10 seats during the bypolls to get a simple majority of 113 in the 225 member house. Though the party in power will have some advantage during the bypolls, the wounded Congress-JDS are likely to do everything they can to make it difficult for the new CM.
Sources in the BJP said though the current situation is almost the same as after the 2008 elections when the BJP that had fallen short of a simple majority and had formed the government with the support of independents who were made ministers. Then mining baron-turned politician Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brothers had played a key role. Ironically, they were later accused of being partly responsible for the party’s downfall as illegal mining in Ballari had become a major issue during Yediyurappa’s earlier tenure as the CM and cost them dearly.
However, this time, the Reddy brothers are not part of the BJP’s scheme of things, though their close associate B Sriramulu is likely to get a key role. Also, unlike in the past, the BJP high command is now more assertive and that can help Yediyurappa rein in any disgruntled elements. 2019 seems to be a repeat of 2008 with the formidable combo of Siddaramaiah as opposition leader and HD Kumaraswamy.
Kumaraswamy and Congress leaders remarks on political instability continuing in the state clearly indicate that they are likely to do their best to ensure that the government will not settle down soon. However, experience of handling a similar situation in the past is likely to help the BJP veteran this time.