At centre of storm, Yeddyurappa's 'chief' minister

Thu, Nov 5 06:10 AM

Shobha Karandlaje, Karnataka Rural Development Minister and the only woman in Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's Cabinet once again finds herself a player in the rebellion against the CM by MLAs in the ruling BJP. The Reddy brothers seem to have added her removal from the ministry to their primary aim of dislodging Yeddyurappa and concentrating power in their hands in the ongoing power struggle in the Karnataka unit of the BJP.

Karandlaje who is known to be close to the Chief Minister and whose fortunes have risen along with Yeddyurappa's, has constantly figured in the power struggles between Yeddyurappa and his rivals within the party. The story of the now 67-year-old Yeddyurappa and the 44-year-old Shobha Karandlaje runs along the lines of that of Kalyan Singh and Kusum Rai in Uttar Pradesh. Their association constantly draws sniggers and snide remarks in private and many political rivals of Yeddyurappa use the chief minister's proximity to Karandlaje to target him in times of crisis.

Yeddyurappa, on the other hand, has reposed great trust in Karandlaje, giving rise to complaints among MLAs that the Rural Development Minister is the de facto chief minister. A frequent complaint against Yeddyurappaa is that MLAs frequently hit a wall in terms of addressing demands of their electorate since Karandlaje, and the chief minister's principal secretary V P Baligar � another player in the current crisis � control the decisions. Karandlaje is also charged with hogging the limelight and interfering in the affairs of all ministries.

A recent instance was during the recent flood crisis when the stranded seer of a temple at Manthralaya in Andhra Pradesh was to be rescued by helicopter. It was Karandlaje who flew along for the rescue and whose pictures were splashed across the front pages of newspapers here.

A native of Puttur in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, until five years ago Karandlaje was a little known party worker. When Yeddyurappa became deputy chief minister in the JD(S)-BJP government in 2006-07, he used his good offices, amid opposition from BJP party circles, to ensure that Karandlaje was elected a member of the legislative council.

In the 2008 Assembly polls Karandlaje was a surprise BJP candidate from the Yeshwanthpur Assembly constituency on the outskirts of Bangalore. Despite many people writing her off, Karandlaje won the seat.

With Yeddyurappa, who spearheaded the BJP victory on the back of a sympathy wave for being ditched by the JD(S), becoming the natural choice for Chief Minister, Karandlaje also got the plum post of Rural Development Minister.

At the time of the first anniversary celebrations of the Yeddyurappa government in June this year, Karandlaje's removal from the ministry figured as a key demand in the rebellion that separately featured senior BJP minister K S Eshwarappa and the Reddy brothers. At that time Yeddyurappa refused to buckle and stood by Karandlaje even though in a minor concession to the rebels, she was divested of her duties as the government spokeperson. "What have I done now?" has been Karandlaje's response to fresh demands for her ouster from the Ministry.

Through the current crisis, Karandlaje, otherwise always by Yeddyurappa's side, has been conspicuous by her absence. There are reports circulating that should circumstances demand her removal as minister, the CM may consider rehabilitating her as the president of the state unit of the BJP.

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