By B S Murthy
By-elections in Sira & R R Nagar in Karnataka has been declared & the election heat is getting hotter each day. A lot rides on the outcomes of these 2 seats neither of which BJP had won earlier. The change of guard in state congress leadership to D K Shiva Kumar is likely to give the party a big advantage in these 2 election results. Rumors of change of guard in Karnataka BJP & eventual change of CM Yeddyurappa has been on the rounds for some time now, B L Santhosh, now close to Mr. Modi & Amit Shah calls the shots in the state party unit & has been a key aspirant for the CM chair. Even the candidate selection has become tricky for Chief Minister as B L Santhosh has been pushing for his confidants in place of candidates promised earlier by the CM. If BJP loses these 2 assembly by-elections, a definite change of guard is for sure & center is doing its part in ensuring D K Shiva Kumar is halted in his campaign trail in the next 3 weeks.
New Partners in game
People watch in awe of the readiness of government organizations like CBI, IT & ED obeying illegal orders of the witch hunt against political adversaries of the center. CBI, IT& ED are now described by national media as NDA’s most trusted, reliable & effective partners of the government, these agencies are always ready to take orders from the center irrespective of the situational need and fix false cases on political leaders from the opposition parties.
Leaders & activists who have been accused falsely have joined BJP to save their skin. But D K Shiva Kumar, a grass-root congress leader who stood up to Amit shah openly, was jailed for 50 days in Delhi for charges which are bailable & still judiciary did not give him the relief. DKS emerged from these witch hunt stronger, rooted & has risen now as KPCC president for Karnataka & dirty tricks departments of BJP could not shake the grit and resolve of DKS. Even elected CM’s of states like Tamil Nadu & Telangana & Andhra Pradesh do take a cautious approach & play safe when it comes to Amit shah.
Once again looking at the timing of raids on DK Shiva Kumar & family brings back the Modi & shah witch hunt when by-elections are 3 weeks away & state media is awash with raid news trying to slow down DKS who is on the roll. DK Shiva Kumar played in the front foot, took them on & ended up with multiple raids on his residence, office, charged with false cases & police custody that too in new Delhi last year. What Amit Shah seems to have missed is the rising popularity of DKS amid every witch hunt, after all, Indian voter loves a beaten down, battle hard ground leader