M Gautham Machaiah
The last day for filing of nominations for the Karnataka assembly elections has passed and many local BJP leaders are heaving a collective sigh of relief because the one name that they all dreaded and vehemently opposed, was conspicuous by its absence in the party’s final list of candidates.
The denial of a ticket to Shobha Karandlaje, a close confidant of state president BS Yeddyurappa, to contest from Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru, has brought cheer to many leaders who feared she could be a potential chief ministerial candidate at some point, stymying their own chances. Shobha is currently an MP from Udupi-Chickmagaluru and drafting her back to state politics would have set the cat among the pigeons.
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Hailing from Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, Shobha, who holds post-graduate degrees in social work and sociology, was a full-time RSS worker right from her student days. She became an active member of the BJP in 1998. Right from day one, Shobha has been a victim of a malicious whispering campaign by her male colleagues who continue to detest and resist her political growth.
In 2004, when her mentor Yeddyurappa was the deputy chief minister, she was made a member of the legislative council, while during the 2008 general elections she was given the ticket to contest from Yeshwantpur.
The BJP came to power and Yeddyurappa, who became the chief minister, inducted her as the minister for panchayat raj and rural development, an important portfolio. Shobha, who made a name for her administrative skills, was soon accused of emerging as an alternate source of power, with some even referring to her as the parallel chief minister.
This raised the heckles of the Reddy brothers of Ballari who feared the erosion of their own powerbase and revolted against Yeddyurappa, forcing him to drop his favourite minister in November 2009. The wheels of fortune would soon turn with the Reddy brothers being investigated for illegal iron ore mining. In less than a year, Yeddyurappa would bring back Shobha, this time as the energy minister, another plum portfolio.
Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa falls out with his party bosses after his imprisonment over corruption charges and quits the BJP to form the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP). Shobha stands by him through this ordeal. When Yeddyurappa returns to BJP in 2014 following a rapprochement, Shobha’s career graph sees another upswing and she rises to become a general secretary and member of Parliament. She once again begins calling the shots as other party men see red.
Yeddyurappa is now 75 and speculation is rife in the local party unit that in the event of him becoming the chief minister again, he will be replaced after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, though BJP chief Amit Shah has repeatedly clarified that he will complete his full term. As of now, the party cannot afford to antagonise him as he belongs to the dominant and influential Lingayat community. Many also believe that Yeddyurappa has already extracted an assurance from the leadership that if he demits office, he will be succeeded by his nominee, which will obviously be Shobha.
This view would have only got strengthened had Shobha been nominated from her erstwhile constituency of Yeshwantpur, but ultimately hectic lobbying against her candidature by her detractors prevailed with the high command.
Round one might have gone against Shobha, but the last word has not yet been said, for, in the game of dice called politics, today’s losers may emerge as tomorrow’s winners.
(The author is a political commentator and a senior journalist)
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