In the wake of the governor-chief minister battle in Karnataka, what’s transpiring in the state is not the much-needed investigation of a multi-crore land scam, but a war of words between two individuals or at most, two political parties. It resembles a war of words between two 8-year-olds, in which the one who has the last word wins. And we have the central government waiting and watching like a patient parent, who’ll listen to both sides of the story and draw a conclusion. But there’s a distortion in this metaphor: Is there “another side” to this story?
Our reigning CM says he’ll fight the battle “legally and politically.” “Politically,” yes. That’s what we have been watching, reading and listening to ever since Mr. Bharadwaj issued the sanction. We have been receiving endless updates of the blame-game. But “legally”? With the evidence and the number of cases pitched against him mounting, Mr. Yedyurappa, with his kith and kin sitting on land lots worth Rs. 500 crore, has few chances of fighting it out legally. Well, he might have better chances illegally, if his conscience permits. Or else, the CM is confident that our long list of laws and its sections are not enough to nail him. Going by the velocity at which our law proceedings have advanced in the past, it’s difficult to prove him wrong. But with the evidence as concrete as the earth itself, is it so hard to unearth it?
No wonder, then, that the CM prefers the political route over the legal one. After all, he has a large number of followers who call themselves “protestors” and are specialized in burning buses and effigies the moment someone dares to even look their protector in the eye. Crores of public money in the hands of a government servant or acres of land under the feet of his family, doesn’t seem to bother this loyal lot, till they get a part of the booty.
And all that we, the unfortunate lot who committed the mistake of electing a government servant who forgot his duty was to safeguard public property as his own and not make it his own, can do is just wait and watch the drama unfold just as the central government does. We have a highly politicized democratic stage show with a billion viewers. A billion helpless viewers.