In a strange coincidence, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, now a one-man Cabinet, who is reviewing flood operations, had faced a similar situation in 2009 during his earlier stint as Chief Minister, although the reasons then were very different.
Though the State is reeling under floods in several districts today, Mr. Yediyurappa does not have a ministerial team to lend him support. The ministry is yet to be expanded even 15 days after he was sworn in as Chief Minister.
Rewind to 2009 when the northern parts of the State were reeling under one of the worst floods witnessed in the region in a century. Mr. Yediyurappa then had a full-fledged ministry, but the political crisis marked by internal rebellion had battered him then as 16 to 20 MLAs from the BJP had gone to a luxury hotel in Hyderabad when their constituencies were gripped by floods.
Mr. Yediyurappa had even tendered a public apology over their absence.
But adverse conditions had not deterred Mr. Yediyurappa then from taking up permanent measures for flood relief such as rehabilitating flood-hit villagers to safe locations.
Though implementation taken up under the project ‘Aasare’ took a long time due to frequent political instability, the project helped in mitigating the problems of several villagers.
Crucial phase
But party insiders observe that the present rain fury is spread across the State and it is difficult for the Chief Minister alone to monitor the entire situation. Though he is likely to get a team of Ministers in a few days, he is now compelled to handle the crucial phase of the disaster alone.
This time, seven of the many Assembly constituencies reeling under floods or rain fury do not have legislators as they have been disqualified for anti-party activities, allegedly fermented by the BJP. This has increased the responsibility of the Chief Minister.
It is interesting to note that not many leaders from the BJP responded quickly to the flood situation. They argue that the Parliament session and the crucial issue of abrogating the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir, besides the passing away of veteran leader Sushma Swaraj came in the way of the central leaders, Union Ministers and MPs focussing on floods in the State.
Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who visited Dakshina Kannada district on Friday, appealed to the Opposition parties to join hands with the Chief Minister by setting aside political differences. This only stressed the fact that handling the situation alone is a Herculean task for Mr. Yediyurappa.
