Letters: Karnataka's turn of events

This refers to the editorial “Karnataka’s costly politics” (January 31). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has forfeited its moral authority to talk about corruption of the UPA government, after disclosures regarding B S Yeddyurappa last year and Nitin Gadkari in the recent past. Though it is too early to say how many seats the Karnataka Janata Party will win in the next Assembly elections, it would be naïve to think Yeddyurappa’s exit would not harm the BJP’s fortunes in Karnataka. His exit would have an impact in the next Lok Sabha elections, too. During the last 20 years or so, the BJP has admitted in its fold any number of leaders — with pockets of influence in one or more regions within states. Some of them, such as Yeddyurappa, became so strong that they could challenge the party’s bosses in Delhi. For fear of losing power, the party’s bosses in Delhi tried to ignore the corrupt deals of this former Karnataka chief minister. But that has proved dangerous. It is quite possible that in line with Uttar Pradesh, caste politics will play a major role in Karnataka, and both the Congress and the BJP will suffer electoral losses.

 

Narendra M Apte, Pune

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