Bengaluru: The BJP's euphoria over its dramatic return to power in Karnataka seems to have 'drowned' in the floods that the southern state is reeling under, in the aftermath of heavy monsoon rains since August 1.
Within a week of the ruling party's strongman B.S. Yediyurappa becoming chief minister for the fourth time on July 26, southwest monsoon gathered momentum and lashed two-thirds of the drought-hit state, causing floods, disrupting normal life and leaving a trail of death and destruction during the last fortnight.
"Though one month of rains and floods are better than a year-long drought, the natural disaster has been a setback to the ruling BJP, which is caught off guard by the rain gods and unable to consolidate its hold on the state with its chief minister being a one-man cabinet or show," a political analyst told IANS here on Wednesday.
Inability of the 75-year-old Yediyurappa in getting clearance from the party's high command for cabinet expansion due to its pre-occupation with events and developments in Jammu and Kashmir and rain havoc in the state, he has come under attack from the Opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S).
"The BJP's central leadership and Yediyurappa have failed to show the urgency, with which they grabbed power and formed the government, in cabinet expansion and governance across the state," Congress state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao told IANS here.
Without numbers or simple majority in a full-fledged state assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost no time in forming its government just four days after the 13-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government collapsed on July 23 for losing the floor test in the assembly by six votes.
"Urgency with which @BSYBJP wanted to grab the power at any cost isn't being seen in governing the state. Where is the cabinet? Does @BSYBJP plan to run all the ministries himself. #HorseTrader CM is worried about horses bolting from his stable," tweeted the Congress.
By Fakir Balaji
