Team Mangalorean - Bangalore
from Shweta Somaya

Bangalore: The BJP MLAs who failed to secure ministerial berth in the new Shettar cabinet got into a huddle at former revenue minister Karunakara Reddy's house on Saturday to work out their future course of action.

Speaking to mediapersons outside Reddy's residence, Belur Gopalakrishna, MLA from Sagar constituency in Shimoga district, said that a few Mir Sadiqs and lechers in the party stalled his prospects of becoming a minister.  Besides levelling the serious charge, he said that those who had saved the government in difficult times had not been recognized by the party.

Incidentally, Mir Sadiq was a minister in the cabinet of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, he allegedly betrayed the sultan by siding with the British. He has been accused in history of withdrawing the Mysore army from the battlefield for collecting wages in the midst of the battle. This facilitated the British army to capture Srirangapatna easily.

Gopalakrishna further said that those who were at the top as leaders behaved like Mir Sadiqs and showed discrimination and schemed against persons like him. By heeding the words of lecherous persons, Gopalakrishna also said, those who mattered kept him away from the ministers' list.

Although he did not name the Mir Sadiqs or lechers, it needed no effort to guess that he was referring to a few other leaders from his own district. One of the MLAs had, in the recent past, faced charges of outraging the modesty of the wife of one of his friends.

He recalled that when the supreme court had ruled that the legislative membership of  his and other colleagues was valid, he could have gone to the state governor to withdraw support and ensured the downfall of the BJP government. But he said that he and others did not do. The governor would have dismissed the government at once on the ground of having lost the majority.

But he assured that he and other like-minded MLAs were only together to decide about the future course and it was not any anti-party activity. They had no intention to damage or put at risk the government led by Shettar. It was only aimed at bringing their genuine grievance to the notice of the higher-ups.

At the closed-door meeting of disgruntled legislators, Gopalakrishna is said to have alleged that 'others' hatched a conspiracy to delete his name at the last minute and thus stunt his growth in Shimoga district. They included Kota Srinivasa Poojary’s name in the last minute. He also expressed his displeasure over inclusion of B J Puttaswamy, a migrant from Congress party.

M P Kumaraswamy, MLA from Mudigere in Chikmagalur district complained that the party had neglected legislators belonging to the backward classes, and offered a lion’s share to those belonging to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities. Two MLAs from his district - C T Ravi from Chikmagalur and D N Jeevaraja from Sringeri - have been lucky to get ministerial berth.

Meanwhile, supporters and fans of Haladi Srinivas Shetty, led by Belve Vasant Shetty, staged a dharna at Freedom Park for not accommodating their leader in the cabinet.

Supporters of Karunakara Reddy, who had arrived in 30 buses from his Harappanahalli constituency, also held a protest rally in the same park. 

From the archives:

• Udupi: MLA Belur Gopalakrishna Seeks Cabinet Berth for Billavas