With the results of five Assembly byelections out on Friday, an acolyte of the Reddy brothers had this to say, "At least now, CM Yed- dyurappa must realise that no MLA poached in Opera- tion Kamal will get re-elect- ed without the support of the Reddys!" A huge gathering of party- men outside `Kuteeram', home-office of tourism min- ister G. Janardhan Reddy, analysing elections results concluded that the BJP can- not win elections without the `active participation' of the Reddy brothers. Insiders insist that byelection results have strength ened the Reddy brothers grip on Yeddyurappa government, since Oper- ation Kamal engineered by the Chief Minister's camp failed with the defeat of V.
Somanna and C.P. Yogesh- war. Whereas, the Opera- tion Kamal orchestrated by the Reddy Brothers was suc- cessful in getting nearly half a dozen opposition MLAs re-elected in by-elections including three ministers; Balachandra L. Jarkiholi; K. Shivannagouda Naik and Anand V. Asnotikar. Speaking to Shivakumar G. Malagi, a beaming tourism minister G.Janardhan Reddy would have none of it, claiming it was a collective victory for the party.
Excerpts:
Do you claim credit for the victory of Chittapur and Kollegal where only Reddy brothers campaigned brothers campaigned for the party and nowhere else this time?
Reddy: (Smiles) I cannot say it's a victory of any individual.
But, it's really a collective achievement to be shared right from the Chief Minister to the common worker.
How do you analyse the defeat of BJP in Ramanagara, Channapatna and Govindraj Nagar?
Reddy: We all agree that Ramanagara and Channapatna are strongholds of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda's family.I do not see a special reason for BJP candidates' defeat there, since Gowda clan put every effort to win those seats. But, I am sure JD(S) does not have any relevance outside Old Mysore region.Whereas in Govindraj Nagar, I do not want to analyse the defeat of minister V. Somanna, but certainly the party has improved its vote share in the constituency. In fact, more than the defeat of the BJP in three seats, the Congress has suffered a major setback in its traditional strongholds. In Kollegal and Chittapur, G.N. Nanjundaswamy and Valmiki Naik, relatively unknown candidates defeated Congress party. Hence, owning moral responsibility, Siddaramaiah must resign from the post of Leader of Opposition in Assembly.
He has proved that his leadership is a flop show and has lost the much-touted image of `backward community leader'.
"Reddy-engineered Operation Kamal proved a success, but CM Yeddyurappa-orchestrated Operation Kamal boomeranged on the BJP in elections": this is the opinion of your followers. Comment.
Reddy: (Smiles) There is nothing like that. First, I do not want to use the term `Operation Kamal.' The migration of legislators happened even during the regime of S.M.Krishna and H.D. Deve Gowda in the state. V.Somanna and C.P. Yogeshwar joined the BJP having accepted party ideology and leadership of B.S. Yeddyurappa.
Now, it is not fair to say that Operation Kamal boomeranged when they have both been defeated in elections, since there were 8-10 opposition legislators who joined the BJP and got re-elected in the byelection on BJP ticket last year.
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H.D. Kumaraswamy JD(S) : Despite the BJP abusing its money and muscle power, especially in Channapatna, we have won, showing that the JD(S) is unshakeable in this belt. On the other hand, people have yet again rejected the Congress, giving it just one seat. Unless its state unit changes its attitude, they face a tough future.
R.V. Deshpande, KPCC president : Our results were unexpected. We were aware of our difficulties in Channapatna and Ramanagara after the Lok Sabha polls, but Chittapur and Kollegal losses are a bad shock. There was total unity among party leaders, we did not lose because of our fault, but because the BJP misused its money and power.
D V Sadananda Gowda, BJP state president :BJP isn't satisfied, although Chittapur and Kollegal have come as bonuses. JD(S) snatched Channapatna with blackmail tactics.Elections there weren't fair. But we can't fathom the Govindraj Nagar loss -despite having put up a candidate who has contributed so much to its development.Sadananda Gowda, BJP state president
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