Don’t mess with the Family
Nearly two months have passed since the government was formed but exciting tidbits from the swearing-in ceremony are still surfacing during the monsoon session. Clearly, whenever the JD(S) is a part of the government, very few opposers want to risk trying to outwit the Gowda family strategy. Those who do go on to regret it. Even Governor Vajubhai Vala, who tried to dominate the swearing-in by arriving half an hour late, was at the receiving end of Mr. H.D. Revanna's quiet wrath. When Mr Vala turned up at 2.35 pm to administer the Oath of Secrecy to the new ministers, the muhurat had already come to an end. Mr Revanna, however, had a plan up his sleeve. He rearranged the function schedule to ensure that, instead of administering the oats to ministers in batches of four or five, Governor Vajubai Vala had to proceed one by one. Mr Revanna, of course, was the first to take the oath, while the governor remained on stage for well over an hour. The governor must have realised, by the end, that despite its paltry 37 seats, the party can shake the state any time they choose when they are in power.
All efforts in vain
Despite the high energies at play within political parties in Karnataka, it was Speaker Ramesh Kumar who stole the show at the recently concluded Budget session. His series of frequent interventions received far more attention in the media than the speeches of BJP leaders made in the House. When opposition members attempted to corner CM H.D. Kumaraswamy by raising certain issues related to the erstwhile Congress government, Mr Kumar was quick to intervene and dilute the issue. To make matters worse, Mr Kumar, a Brahmin who speaks openly about his appetite for non-vegetarian food, asked one BJP member whether he "eats fish or has gone beyond that." When another member pointed out that the party member in question eats all types of food, Mr Kumar quipped, "Very good development. This tribe of people should grow." BJP members, who are apparently upset with the Speaker's contrarian behaviour, were heard grumbling that despite their best efforts to nail the ruling party in the Budget session, all their efforts went in vain.
