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Deve Gowda's 'evil designs' see Patel scurrying for god's help

M D Ritiin Bangalore

On Balipadyami day, when Jayadevappa Halappa Patel, the troubled chief minister of Karnataka, offered prayers to his gods, he had a specific private demon in mind that he was trying to exorcise.

"The forces of evil seem to be gaining in strength every day," he quipped to journalists who had gathered to wish him the best of the festival season. "God should give the good forces the strength to fight them."

Meanwhile, the evil force that he is making veiled references to has come out into the open with his animosity. "Why does he (Patel) need outside support to survive, instead of just the backing of his own partymen?" demands former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.

The genesis of the present disturbance in the Janata Dal in Karnataka is that Deve Gowda would like to have his finger in both the national and state-level political pies of his party.

He and his two sons, Revanna and Kumaraswamy, as well as their large following, are quite willing to oust Patel in a week's time and replace him with someone of their own choice for this purpose.

Although the Deve Gowda group cites problems like hikes in water and power tariffs as their grouses, their real agenda is that two heads should roll: that of Patel himself and of state Dal chief B L Shanker, once reckoned close to them.

As the battle lines become more clearly defined, the two majority communities of Karnataka, the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats, as well as the heads of their all-powerful religious mutts, are getting ready to back their respective representatives.

Deve Gowda is a Vokkaliga while Patel is a Lingayat. The mutts are considered to be important vote swingers, and both camps are taking pains to get them into the act at the earliest.

As of now, the Deve Gowda camp claims the support of over 40 MLAs, who were seen receiving their leader at the railway station a few days ago when he arrived in Bangalore.

Bystanders were amused by the drama as Deve Gowda had actually arrived in the city by some other train at 0630 hours that day, and had had no reception of any kind there. He spent a few hours at the house of his daughter and cardiologist son-in-law in Padmanabhanagar and returned to the station to be welcomed by assembled supporters at his originally scheduled arrival time of 1430 hours!

The Patel camp points out that many MLAs are actually shuttling between both camps, and cannot be counted in either at the moment. "I know who's who and what's what," remarks Deve Gowda confidently.

If Deve Gowda does enjoy this level of support, then Patel could be in serious trouble as this number amounts to a third of the 109 Dal members in the 224-strong assembly.

As it is, the Dal has a very small majority, and this has made Patel vulnerable from the very beginning of his tenure. Ever since Deve Gowda lost his throne in Delhi, Patel and his men have expected trouble as the former prime minister has always been a leader who is truly regional-minded at heart.

Even as prime minister, he used to ensure that he received regular intelligence reports about political intrigues and activities in Karnataka. His old foe, Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, has repeatedly described him as a regional leader who lacks the mental abilities to have a national perspective.

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