Ballari Tere Tukde Honge? Political Slugfest In Karnataka Over Mining Kingdom 

It has been two months since B S Yediyurappa took over the reigns of Karnataka as the Chief Minister but his troubles seem far from over.

As the last date to file nominations for the by-elections to 15 assembly seats in the state draws near, protests against issuing seats to disqualified MLA’s have gained momentum.

After the election commission clarified that the disqualified MLA’s could file their nominations, trouble began brewing within the party as the leadership would now look to accommodate these ‘rebel’ MLAs in a bid to stay in power.

And given that these were sitting MLA’s, the existing BJP candidates from these seats would have to make way for those who jumped the fence. This has led to the party’s candidates and their followers protesting against any such move.

Yediyurappa is now trying to pacify the protesters while also trying to accommodate the rebels who defected.

One such move is his support to the idea of carving Vijayanagara out of Ballari as the 31st district of the state. Former Congress leader Anand Singh, the first of the MLA’s to tender his resignation from the Kumaraswamy government had appealed for Vijayanagara to be carved out of Ballari as a separate district.

And while “administrative ease and heritage status” of the region are being cited as the reasons for this demand, it is no news that this will make things easy for Singh who seeks to campaign from the proposed new district headquarters of Hospet.

This proposal though has drawn flak from party insiders who have been vocal against it.

Minister for Health and Ballari strongman B Sriramulu has opposed it and said that the ‘undivided’ nature of the district was important for its development. He added that it had the backing of various seers as well as activists and that he would personally wish for a united Ballari.

The Chief Minister who is expected to table the proposal during the cabinet meet today (26 September) is accused of having taken this decision ‘haphazardly’ without consulting other leaders from the region.

BJP MLA Somashekhar Reddy has called the division attempt a ‘selfish move’ by vested interests. Local leaders too have objected to the move and to the possibility of a BJP ticket to Singh who they say “has caused enough harm to the party”.

Singh’s son-in-law Sandeep Singh is said to have taken to the streets protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Issuing a ticket to such a person in place of party loyalists will send a wrong message to the party cadre, opined local leaders at a meeting in Hosapete which had to be then called off due to a ruckus.

Anand Singh is not new to jumping fences as the disqualified MLA had resigned from the BJP and joined the congress just in time for the 2018 assembly polls.

He was the first to resign from the erstwhile government and the creation of a separate Vijayanagara district was one of his demands.

If the district is bifurcated as proposed, Vijayanagara will comprise of the following taluks - Hosapete, Kampli, Hagaribommanahalli, Kottur, Hadagali and Harappanahalli.