The knives are out in the ruling BJP for party state president K.S. Eshwarappa with supporters of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa out to have sweet revenge by unseating him — almost two months after Mr Eshwarappa and others in the BJP pulled of a coup to oust the Lingayat strongman from power. Speaking to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity, a source said once the Koppal election is over, the BSY camp is likely to meet and finalise its strategy for removal of Mr Eshwara-ppa so that the former CM can replace him.
“Mr Yeddyurappa’s point is that Lingayats and Vokkaligas being the two dominant castes in Karnataka, the BJP can grow only if he succeeds Mr Eshwarappa, a Kuruba, in the days to come. To achieve this, Mr Yeddyurappa has asked his loyalist and excise minister M.P. Renukacharya to start raising the pitch for his removal so that he can take up the matter with the central leadership once the Koppal bypoll result is out,” the source explained. And what could be the reason for Mr Yeddyurappa becoming so hostile to his fellow politician from Shimoga? Sources said what proved to be the breaking point was the humiliating treatment meted out to the former CM by Mr Eshwara-ppa during a recent meeting at the party office. Mr Yeddyurappa’s first reaction was that he could not be insulted in this manner and that too by someone who would find it difficult to win a single Kuruba vote. “He needs to be replaced with immediate effect. So, we are seeking support for our toppling move,” a BSY loyalist said.
Another factor which has upset them is Mr Eshwara-ppa taking sides with the rival Jagadish Shettar camp even after D.V. Sadananda Gowda defeated Shettar and was elected chief minister in a poll by BJP legislators in August.
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MP to celebrate fundamental duties week
LALIT SHASTRI
BHOPAL, Sept. 18
When everyone is talking of protecting citizen’s rights across the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh would be going one step forward by devoting a full-week beginning September 25 — the birth anniversary of the principal architect of Jan Sangh Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya — to educating schoolchildren about their fundamental duties as enshrined in the Constitution.
On Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, the Fundamental Duties’ Week will conclude with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan going live on All-India Radio to administer the oath of commitment towards fundamental duties of citizens.
Madhya Pradesh school education minister Archana Chitnis floated the idea of observing the Fundamental Duties’ Week in schools all over the state. Significantly, the Fundamental Duties of citizens were added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 during the Emergency period when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister.
The Fundamental Duties were originally ten in number but they were increased to eleven by the 86th Amendment in 2002, which added a duty on every parent or guardian to ensure that their child or ward was provided opportunities for education between the ages of six and fourteen years.