Coalition disasters, manmade tragedies mark 2018

Coalition disasters, manmade tragedies mark 2018

The bye gone year had been a bundle of good, bad and worse for Karnataka if you were to
glance at the important developments that took place during this period. General elections held
on 12 May for the 224 members state Assembly paved way for a hung house thereby depriving
the Bharatiya Janata Party from assuming power.

Heavy rains along with unheard floods, landslips and major landslides resulted into the death of
a few people apart from displacing many more people of the picturesque, coffee rich Kodagu
district. Likewise 30 passengers lost their lives in a ghastly bus mishap and more than 17
people died after consuming prasadam at a temple in Chamarajnagar district.

Karnataka also lost three political and cultural personalities during this period. HN Ananthkumar,
Union Parliamentary Affairs, Fertilizers and Chemicals Minister, CK Jaffer Shariff, former central
minister and octogenarian Congress leader and MH Ambareesh, film star turned former union
and state minister passed away in the last two months of the year.
In the beginning of the year Siddaramaiah led Congress party state government was riddled into
a series of controversies including the recommendation of a separate minority religion status to
the Veerashiva-Lingayat community. Those against the move proclaim it to be the sole reason
for the debacle of the Congress subsequently.
Meanwhile the flutter due to the state government’s decision of organizing Tippu Jayanti on
behalf of the government continued to persist making it an issue for public diatribe on the
national level as well.

HD Kumaraswamy, who had vehemently opposed government sponsored birthday celebrations
on the eve of elections made a U turn by staying away from the main function at Vidhana
Soudha under the guise of ill health!
May 2018 elections appeared to be a big disappointment to the BJP as it managed to win in 104
constituencies leaving it behind the 113 magical numbers. On the other hand the ruling
Congress which was literally shunted out of power by returning victorious only in 78
constituencies went out of the way in forging a post poll alliance with the Janata Dal Secular to
keep the BJP out of power.
Another interesting fallout of the split verdict was such that the Congress party with a strength of
78 MLAs literally fell at the feet of HD Devegowda whose JDS party had just managed to win in
38 constituencies!

However the assumption of power to the two foes turned partners just for the sake of lust of
power was not all that easy. In fact the Congress party managers ensured that the apex court of
the country heard their urgent plea throughout the night, an unprecedented legal battle unheard
of till then.

BS Yeddyurappa, state BJP President and former chief minister who once again became the
CM for the third time had to content himself by remaining in that position only for a handful of
days and quit even without facing the litmus test of trial of strength on the floor of the house.
Kodagu district is also popularly known as the local Switzerland for its scenic beauty rich with
coffee plantations, hilly terrain and dense forests. So naturally the whole district has the
maximum number of tourist foot falls every year. Last year the number of tourists visiting
Kodagu was close to four times of the district population! Kodagu has a population around five
lakhs.
As a result related infrastructure like hotels, resorts are mushrooming all over. The addition of
Home Stay facilities has literally taken the region for a ride in a reverse direction. With only 400
such regulated places out of an estimated more than 4,000 spots they have become more a
menace to the already fragile land use conditions.

Thanks to such ground realities the heavy rainfall during September and October threw the
normal life out of gear in four Panchayats of Somwarpet and Madikeri Taluks usurping large
tracts of coffee plantations apart from rendering the coffee growers homeless.
A wreck less private company bus driver’s erratic driving fancies led to the tragic death of 30
people including school going children, women among many others in Mandya district. While
the greed for power and money of a swamiji became the sole reason for death of more than 17
people in Chamarajanagar district after consuming temple prasadam laced with pesticide.
Karnataka’s woes with neighboring states like Tamil Nadu and Goa on sharing Cauvery and
Mahadayi river waters continued further. But the biggest solace on both these issues was the
judgments of the apex court and Mahadayi Tribunal.
On the whole the state got benefited as the Supreme Court also took into cognizance the
ground water level in Tamil Nadu while allocating its share. In the same manner the Mahadayi
river water Tribunal gave a go ahead in diverting the Mahadayi river waters to the dry districts of
North Karnataka for drinking purpose.

There were also protests against the state government’s apathy towards the development of
North Karnataka region while some politicians and organizations made the issue a ploy calling
for a separate North Karnataka state.
The Bengaluru headquartered Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) although boasted of
seven successful launches had to undergo an embarrassing situation when the GSAT-6A
satellite meant for military applications lost contact.
-Manohar Yadavatti