Both KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) do not deserve to be opposition leaders as they have "surrendered" to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, said former MLA from Channapatna, C.P. Yogeshwar, who took oath as the MLC on Thursday.
The allegation has triggered a war of words between the leaders even as Yogeshwar accused the duo of indulging in "adjustment politics" with the BJP government.
"Both Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar have surrendered to our government. Both are obedient to Yediyurappa and they are getting their work done. Shivakumar is the Congress party chief only for namesake. Kumaraswamy is all praise for our government. So, both are left with no morality to continue working as the opposition leaders," said Yogeshwar, a five-time MLA who was defeated in the May 2018 assembly elections, after Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar allegedly joined hands to engineer Yogeshwar's defeat.
The sudden outburst by Yogeshwar has come as a shock to the Vokkaliga leaders. But the bitter power tussle in the Vokkaliga heartland (Old Mysore region) between the three leaders, is no secret.
Yogeshwar, a party-hopper, had won the Channapatna seat for the first time in 1999 as an independent, and has switched to Samajwadi Party, the BJP and the Congress, before returning to BJP in 2017. The actor-turned-politician won the seat in 2013, after defeating Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha, but lost it in 2018 to Kumaraswamy, who swept both Channapatna and Ramanagara.
On Thursday, Yogeshwar, who took oath as MLC, made an appeal to the party workers and local leaders of both the JD(S) and Congress party, to join the BJP and strengthen it.
"There is a huge leadership vacuum in the Old Mysore region. Both leaders are busy in adjustment politics," Yogeshwar said.
"Both their loyalties remain with the BJP. Shivakumar is holding the Congress chief's post only for protection. Kumaraswamy has himself declared he has done no work as the chief minister. Shivakumar is extending support to BJP in the hope that he will get some relief in the impending legal battles. He might criticise our government and even go to the Governor. But he will extend all support to the BJP government and is keen Yediyurappa continues as the chief minister for the remaining three years," Yogeshwar claimed.
"Kumaraswamy has lost power and is now hoping at least his party MLAs remain with him. He is hoping to survive the growing influence of the DK brothers in the Old Mysore region," he said.
Incidentally, the cooperative politics between the Deve Gowda family and the DK brothers has been a talking point, as was evident in the November 2018 bypolls in Ramanagara. Kumaraswamy, who had won Channapatna and Ramanagara, decided to give up the latter and fielded his wife Anitha in the bypoll. Yogeshwar, who was leading the BJP campaign in the constituency, suffered humiliation after the BJP candidate L. Chandrashekhar backed out at the last minute, allegedly due to the DK brothers' strategy, which paved the way for Anitha's victory.
Responding to Yogeshwar's remarks, a furious Shivakumar claimed that the BJP leader had approached him a fortnight back to join the Congress party.
"Yogeshwar had come to me saying he wanted to join the Congress party. He also told me there were attempts to dislodge Yediyurappa as the chief minister. I advised him to stay loyal to his party. Why is he talking all this now? Has he lost his mind," Shivakumar said.
On the other hand, Kumaraswamy reminded Yogeshwar that his support to the government was no revelation. "I have openly extended my support to the (BJP) government in the House and told them the development of the state was more important than politics. We must fight each other only in the elections. At this juncture, I am not ready to criticise the government as the state is going through a huge (health) crisis. I feel the groupism in BJP, too, can wait and efforts to destablise the government through change of leadership is bad for the state. In fact, the adjustment politics is played out by BJP and the Congress in the taluk panchayat and APMC polls in my district, to weaken me," said Kumaraswamy.
