Deep Throat

The Defection Buzz

The Congress’s main troubleshooter in Karnataka, D.K. Shivakumar, anticipates an ­arrest by the ED: ‘politics of rev­enge’, says his Lok Sabha MP brother Suresh. The brothers, who had been raided by the income tax department last year, raised the alarm about being targeted yet again last weekend. The BJP, they say, is trying to destablise the JDS-Congress coalition. Shiva­kumar, currently a state minister, had played a key role in wresting power for the coalition in May by shepherding its MLAs into safe locations in order to prevent poaching. The buzz about defections is an ongoing feature in the state’s politics. Currently, speculation is fuelled by the seemingly malcontent Jarkhiholi family of Belgaum.

Coalition Cracks

Both the SP and BSP, which combined to form the vanguard of Opposition unity and defeated the BJP in the last UP bypolls, were missing from the ‘Bharat Bandh’ called to protest rising fuel prices. Sources tell Outlook that all may not be well between the two parties as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is apparently facing problems in dealing with BSP supremo Mayawati’s cap­riciousness.  Akhilesh is believed to have spoken to Buaji on the phone a few times in the past month or so but she is somehow not willing to meet him. Both the leaders had earlier decided to hold a joint public rally for a combined show of strength before the 2019 parliamentary elections, but things have not moved forward. The SP leader is said to be uncomfortable about the uncertainty. While he waits for some signal from Mayawati, the BJP is gloating. “We told you so,” is the refrain from the ruling party camp.

Unceremoniously Yours

Recently removed J&K DGP S.P. Vaid has revealed that he had no information about his sudden transfer. But shouldn’t he know better? After all, J&K has a tradition of ‘unceremonious’ removals. During the PDP-BJP government days, Mehbooba Mufti removed fin­ance minister Haseeb Drabu for saying Kashmir is more of a social issue than political. Then the BJP announced the break-up of the PDP-BJP coalition. Mehbooba heard about it on TV! As if all this wasn’t enough already, governor N.N. Vohra was ousted when he was planning to hold meetings with officials about devel­opment. Lesson learnt: unce­remonious removals should be accepted gracefully in the rough and tumble of politics in the troubled state.