Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar: A Breath of Fresh Air or Just a Fad?

Long punch-out for BJP-JDS and Congress

• 2004 Lok Sabha Elections witnessed an engagement between Karnataka voters and BJP for the first time ever.
• The General Elections of 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 saw BJP gaining steady strength with the party winning 18, 19, 17 and 25 seats respectively.
• Continuing the momentum, in 2024 BJP won 17 Lok Sabha seats while its traditional rival Congress could manage to bag 9 seats.
• With its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular), winning 2 of the 3 seats it contested, the BJP-JD(S) alliance managed to win an impressive 19 seats with a combined vote share of 51.66%.
• On August 3rd, BJP-JDS flagged off a padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru. They demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s resignation over allegations of malfeasance against the Congress government.
• Karnataka BJP's 'Mysuru Chalo Padayatra' primarily highlights the alleged MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) scam involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife B.M. Parvathi. Seeking resignation of the CM, BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa alleged that Siddaramaiah has been involved in a corruption case.
• To counter BJP's effort to malign the ruling party, the state Congress launched on Friday launched a 'Jan Andolan' Shivakumar at logger-heads with Kumaraswamy.
• Karnataka BJP’s 'Mysuru Chalo Padayatra' followed by Congress’s 'Jan Andolan' signalled another long-drawn hostility between Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy.
• Mr. Kumaraswamy accused Mr. Shivakumar of grabbing 68 acres from Dalits, continued his tirade accusing him of grabbing plots in Sadashivanagar from five widows at gunpoint without full payment being made. Though Congress leader Allam Veerabhadrapppa made an advance payment but the full payment was given only when Mr. Shivakumar was threatened.
• Mr. Shivakumar roared back saying that he cannot be petrified by threats instead demanded reveal of Mr. Kumaraswamy’s wealth which is ill-acquired.
• Mr. Kumaraswamy does not put single statement coming from Mr. Shivakumar to rest. Calling himself ‘an open book’ he clearly declared that despite ED and CBI scrutinizing his assets for years were unable to cull out anything substantial.
• He went on to emphasize that he will declare his assets only if Mr. Shivakumar reveals his wealth too.
• Asked if the Congress government will fall or the Chief Minister will resign, Shivakumar said: BJP is envious. Envy has no remedy. They are also upset that a person from a backward community has been a Chief Minister twice. Moreover, the five guarantees we have given are being emulated by BJP-ruled states. This creates an atmosphere where the Union BJP government is getting frustrated and trying to destabilise the Karnataka Congress government, creating confusion among the people.

Editor’s Note

• Country’s political landscape is dotted with fistfights. This is not the first time political leaders find themselves unstoppable in trade of accusations. The beauty of democracy can often be tainted too. A society which encourages free speech amongst the citizens do turn into washing dirty linen in public often.

Keywords

• #Kumaraswamy #Shivakumar