22 June,2011 08:29 AM IST | | B V Shiva Shankar
Swearing is a legitimate and essential act provided under constitution. Article 69 mandates to take an oath before assuming office ranging from a legislator to the president. A judge, a police officer, a doctor, even a common citizen has to solemnly affirm before wearing the mantle of his particular role. So, why so much of hullabaloo over the swearing match to be held between chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy? Simple ufffd the match is a farce being enacted in a bid to cover up follies committed by both the politicians.
Yeddyurappa dared Kumaraswamy to testify his statement before the deity of the Dharmasthala temple, after the latter claimed the CM tried to buy hisu00a0 silence over the scams he would expose in coming days (Kumaraswamy said he would release documents, on 22 June, to show Yeddyurappa'su00a0 involvement in a scam worth more than Rs 500).
The match is a farce being enacted in a bid to cover up follies committed by both the politicians.
The former CM, who is also the state president the JD(S) in Karnataka, picked up the gauntlet and the date for the match was fixed on 27 June. While it is doubtful if the match would happen with no one in the BJP or JD(S) buying the idea as everyone knows that the two leaders are lying, the episode testified the politics in the state that has touched nadir like never before. According to Kumaraswamy, Lehar Singh, an emissary of the CM, called him for the truce before he was leaving for Kerala, where he booked a room in resort. Yeddyurappa has also booked a room in the same resort. Kumaraswamy said he planned to stay for a couple of days from 12 June, while CM's stay was scheduled for 14 June.
Kumaraswamy revealed Yeddyuarppa's overtures on 16 June saying he had canceled his Kerala tour, while claiming Lehar Singh had called him before 12 June. The question: why he took four days for the exposure?u00a0 No prize for guessing. The bargain was that the former CM came out with a public statement only after he couldn't achieve his end. Yeddyurappa is swearing that he never hobnobbed with the Kumaraswamy and other JD(S) leaders. Have we forgotten how these two joined hands to topple the Dharama Singh government, in 2006?u00a0 Didn't theyu00a0 form a coalition government thereafter?
We have come to terms with Love, Sex, and Dhoka in politics saying all is fair in dirty politics. We have accepted nethas as liars. The anguish is, why to malign a pilgrimage centre like Dharmasthala as a stage for the farce. People believe the Lord Manjunatha punishes those who lie before him. The politicians are not scared as they think that they can even bribe the God.
