Yediyurappa raises eyebrows by supporting Kumaraswamy

Over the previous yr and a half, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, regardless of shedding energy to the BJP, has been seen as being “soft” in direction of the B.S. Yediyurappa authorities. In a gesture that’s seen as returning the favour, the Chief Minister has come to Mr. Kumaraswamy’s assist after farmers’ chief hurled criticism at him.

While Mr. Kumaraswamy has refused to assault the federal government on points reminiscent of floods and the dealing with of COVID-19, even because the Congress has raised claims of mismanagement, eyebrows had been raised after Mr. Yediyurappa publicly got here to Mr. Kumaraswamy’s assist on Saturday.

“It is condemnable that [KRRS leader] Kodihalli Chandrashekar has used inappropriate language about former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy,” Mr. Yediyurappa mentioned in an announcement.

Though Mr. Yediyurappa is seen as being thoughtful in direction of the Assembly constituencies represented by Janata Dal (S) legislators in respect to launch of grants, political circles are agog with the growing bonhomie between the 2 leaders. Over the previous few months, a few conferences between the 2 leaders had sparked off hypothesis a couple of attainable alignment between the 2 events, an thought dismissed by Mr. Kumaraswamy. The JD(S) lending assist to the Land Reforms (Second) Amendment Bill within the Legislative Council just lately, the place the BJP lacked numbers, triggered extra hypothesis.

Politically, the JD(S) is now seeing the Congress as its predominant rival over the BJP because it fights the Congress in its conventional voter base of Old Mysore. It is afraid of an erosion of its voter base due to its alignment with the Congress to kind the coalition authorities.

Sources within the Chief Minister’s Office mentioned that nothing a lot ought to be learn into the CM’s be aware and that it was solely a normal assertion. “The Chief Minister has a good rapport with people across the political spectrum. Politics is different. He felt decency had to be maintained and Mr. Chandrashekar’s statements against Mr. Kumaraswamy lacked that,” a supply mentioned.