Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has completed one year in office amid several hurdles.

Yediyurappa, a seasoned politician, became chief minister for the fourth time on July 26, 2019, with a promise of better governance.

But for the last one year, he has faced several hurdles, be it pressure from the party’s central leadership, unprecedented rain in 2019, stressed State finances, by-election and Cabinet expansion to accommodate the MLAs who defected to BJP, and now the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amidst all this, the State government is facing criticism over some sweeping legislation — Karnataka Land Reforms Act, APMC Act and labour-related reforms.

“Last one year, the State government has been moving from one crisis to another leaving it with severe financial crunch. It has been a year of crisis management for us at BJP,” said a senior party functionary.

BJP’s central leadership has not given a free hand to Yediyurappa. During the byelection it denied tickets to a few defected legislators to protect its grassroot leaders, it dominated while selecting names for Rajya Sabha polls and while nominating to Karnataka Legislative Council, again it bargained to elevate grassroot leaders.

As for the Covid-19 crisis, from a State that initially seemed to have managed the pandemic well, it is now seeing a rise in cases.

Despite shortage of resources, Yediyurappa announced ₹1,600 crore Covid-19 relief package for unorganised sectors.

In 2019, to fund farmers’ debt relief package, the government had to borrow extensively to close the financial year (FY) 2019-20.

Two successive farm loan waivers, unprecedented floods and Covid-19 relief measures have put the State’s finances under severe stress.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW