Bengaluru: In a state where there is a near-unanimous consensus on challenging the latest Supreme Court order to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu besides setting of a new interstate panel to oversee dams located inside Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party is caught between state sentiments and its national compulsions.
The plot gets only thicker from here on because loyalists of BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa believe there is a conspiracy at work hatched by a few BJP ministers in the Central government to finish off his political career using the highly emotive Cauvery issue.
The ruling Congress and opposition Janata Dal (Secular) has been taunting BJP – the main Opposition party in the state assembly – on why it hasn't enlisted the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ensuring that "justice" is served to Karnataka, the first South Indian state to vote BJP into power. So far, BJP has shied away from answering that question, all the while reiterating that it stands by Kannadiga sentiments on the issue.
But the apple-cart tumbled on Wednesday when BJP decided to skip an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The meeting saw an unprecedented coming together of disparate political parties and had former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and the Congress CM speaking in the same voice. Yeddyurappa's attempt to put up a brave face, by saying his party skipped the meeting because it had nothing more to advice the state government on Cauvery, didn't seem to have helped.
Ironically, it was Siddaramaiah who was on the mat until a few days ago when he agreed to the SC ruling last week to release 6000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. BJP went to town joining the JDS saying the Chief Minister had capitulated. The shoe now is on the other foot.
Siddaramaiah quickly gained ground after the latest SC verdict ordering additional water release for Tamil Nadu. He called on Deve Gowda at the latter's residence, a grand political gesture where he passed the buck on to the larger Karnataka political leadership. The 83-year-old leader is the most influential voice in the Vokkaliga community – a community that widely populates the Mysore-Mandya-Bangalore-rural belt, which will take the brunt if Cauvery water is released to Tamil Nadu.
Siddaramaiah had parted ways with the JDS nearly a decade back, and not on good terms. The patch-up over a river has undoubtedly earned him many brownie points.
Strategically enough, the Congress ministers kept away from commenting on the BJP's boycott of the all-party meet, saying tactfully - and perhaps, tongue-in-cheek - that the BJP leaders had other commitments. Obviously, their commitment then to the cause of the Cauvery was thus under (untold) scrutiny. Protesters moved their dharnas to the door-steps of BJP MPs. "We voted in 17 MPs, not one has the power to talk to the PM?" they said.
Late at night, a lone tweet by AICC spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao set social media into gear – "On behalf of Congress, want to thank all political parties (except BJP) for ably guiding government at all-party meeting."
Memes are doing the rounds about BJP’'s double-speak (and even triple-speak – speaking three voices, one in TN, another in Karnataka, a third at the Centre). The hashtag is ModiMosa – mosa in Kannada referring to betrayal.
Smarting under the hugeness of the political impact this issue could have -- remember Karnataka elections are two years away and BJP dreams of coming back to power – BJP spokespersons are struggling to stay in the perception battle.
A statement by BJP's Shaina NC that "she thinks" we need "to rise beyond selfish interests" and share Cauvery waters has left the BJP more red-faced. On the defensive, party spokesperson CT Ravi has been tweeting frantically that the Karnataka unit of BJP is as devastated as the rest of us about the SC order.
Note, he said that Karnataka unit of BJP is devastated but no word about the rest of the party.
Another spokesperson S Prakash argues on social media again that the all-party meeting, "made no path-breaking decision. I am sure you have realised the futility of this meeting which failed to find ways out of the mess".
Too little, too late. For, before this, came a master-stroke by Deve Gowda himself.
Late Wednesday evening, he decided to attend the all-party meeting at the Vidhana Souda – the landmark legislature building, a site he has not stepped into for 20 years. The political narrative soon shifted to, "An octogenarian politician puts aside all past tiffs with the Congress to attend the meeting, going into the Vidhan Souda after 20 years."
On Thursday, he and the Congress have been out playing the put-your-ego-aside game, 'advising' BJP to 'at least' participate in the legislature session. Well-played as always, Gowdre!
But well, there are more bouts coming right up, next week.