Bangalore: The resignation of the Bharatiya Janata Party member M. Rajasekhara Murthy from the Rajya Sabha brings to an end perhaps the longest period of political brinkmanship.

Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy, who, for the record, belonged to the BJP, submitted his resignation to the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha and has announced that he will be joining the Janata Dal (Secular) on November 13. His six-year term would have ended in April 2006.

Prasad's decision

Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy is joining the JD(S) even as another alienated political leader, former Union Minister V. Srinivasa Prasad, is leaving it to align himself with the Congress.

For almost two years, he had no ties with the BJP and the party too had given him up. As has been its attitude towards non-conformist and refractory legislators and MPs, it took no action against him. However, the senior leader had not indulged in any anti-party activity to attract action.

Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy should have joined the JD(S) before the April 2004 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. He had appeared along with former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and the other JD(S) leaders on some occasions. Thinking that his entry into the party was a certainty, the JD(S) had got his son-in-law Chidanand elected to the Legislative Council.

Party's need

The JD(S) needed him as it was on the look out for a prominent Lingayat leader and live down its image as a Vokkaliga-dominated party. It also

wanted to make good the loss of former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which has cost it dearly in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts.

Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy had kept everyone guessing for long about his political moves. It was well known that he was uncomfortable in the BJP to which he could not carry his seniority in the Congress and in State politics. He was not included in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Ministry and felt unwanted as has been the case of most of those who had joined the BJP deserting other parties. As he has been a Congressman for most part of his long political career, there was naturally the speculation that he would return to the party. There was even the talk that he would be appointed as the President of the State unit of the Congress.

Dissident leader

The Congress, like the JD(S), is in need of a Lingayat leader with stature. However, there were discordant voices in the Congress opposing his admission.

The loudest was that of former Minister M. Mahadev who had called him a "spent force". Many Congress leaders have not forgotten the dissident activity he had carried on when Veerappa Moily was Chief Minister. Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy's residence(s) in Sadashivanagar was the hub of prolonged dissident activity and he did not allow Mr. Moily be in peace.

However, there was a time when Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy had earned a name as a deft administrator. It was when he was Finance Minister in the short-lived Veerendra Patil government (1989-90). He came down ruthlessly on the State's liquor barons and struck at the sale of what are called "liquor seconds". Earlier, Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy had served as Industries Minister in the first Veerendra Patil Ministry. After the Congress split in 1969, the Ministry sided with the Congress (Organisation). He had then toured other countries to lure investment in the State.

At 83, Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy is senior-most among legislators and MPs. He was first elected to the Mysore Legislative Assembly from T. Narasipura (now a reserved seat) and re-elected in 1957,1962, 1967, 1972 and 1989. In the 1989 election he defeated Mr. Siddaramaiah from the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysore. He was a Congress member of the seventh Lok Sabha during 1980-84. He was later to be elected as a Congress nominee to the Rajya Sabha and served as Minister of State for Surface Transport in the P.V. Narasimha Rao Ministry.

Mr. Rajasekhara Murthy is known for worsting strong rivals in elections, such as late J.B. Mallaradhya, late Tulsidas Dasappa and his kin and well-known parliamentarian M.S. Gurupadaswamy.

What is his plan?

It is being stated that by entering the JD(S) he has now set his set his sights on chief ministership, which has eluded him, and not exactly the post of President of the party's State unit.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail