For years now, Karnataka has been last resort for power politics

BENGALURU: Although herding legislators into resorts has been a done thing in many states over the past few decades, Karnataka has been the epicenter of political tourism and it’s likely to hold sway.
Beginning with Karnataka chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde in 1983, who sought to protect Andhra Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao’s TDP camp from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to rebel Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh who are now holed up in a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru, the state has been witness to resort politics.
The idea of parking legislators in resorts and hotels in Karnataka to prevent them from switching sides began in 1984 when Rama Rao, a close friend of Hedge, brought his legislators to Bengaluru prior to a trust vote. These TDP MLAs were lodged at a star facility at Nandi Hills for almost a month. Then, in 2002, Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh packed all his MLAs off to Bengaluru in a bid to sail through a trust vote.
Between 2006 and 2013, resort politics kicked into higher gear under the HD Kumaraswamy and BS Yediyurappa governments. It was at its peak during BJP’s first stint in Karnataka between 2009 and 2013, so much so that it became a routine affair.
Prior to that, in 2008, the BJP, which fell short of a majority, for the first time, managed to lure independents and seven legislators from the Congress and JD(S) into its fold. Yediyurappa, with the assistance of tainted mining baron G Janardhana Reddy and Arvind Limbavali, moved the rebels and his MLAs to a resort.
Two years later, the Ballari Reddy brothers turned on Yediyurappa and whisked away 18 BJP MLAs to a hotel. It left Yediyurappa’s government teetering on the brink. The Congress and JD(S) also packed off its MLAs to a resort to prevent poaching.
Then, after he was ousted as chief minister following allegations of corruption, Yediyurappa himself bunched MLAs loyal to him in a resort, while demanding Sadananda Gowda be made the CM instead of Jagdish Shettar. The situation reversed in 2012, when he again bunched his loyalists in a resort to get Gowda ousted and Shettar made CM.
These moves were in keeping with a state that first shone the spotlight on ‘horse trading’ and the issue of toppling elected governments. It was former Karnataka chief minister SR Bommai who challenged the governor’s decision in the Supreme Court to dismiss his government in 1988.
The Bommai judgment, delivered in 1994, proved to be a watershed case for modern-day resort politics. The SC had stated: “...Whether the council of ministers has lost the confidence of the House is not a matter to be determined by the governor or for that matter anywhere else except the floor of the House.”
That decree meant the central government could not use the office of the governor to dismiss an elected government in a state and that it was the prerogative of the state government to prove it had a majority. To safeguard numbers, governments began herding MLAs in resorts.
Earlier last week, the BJP brought 23 Madhya Pradesh Congress legislators to Bengaluru and housed in a resort. This, just after the BJP in Karnataka toppled the HD Kumaraswamy’s JD(S)-Congress coalition government. That home minister Basavaraj Bommai, who extended police protection to the rebel MP Congress legislators, is the son of SR Bommai is an irony in itself.
Why Karnataka
While in 1984 Rao used the ‘Khamma’ (caste) connection to lodge TDP legislators in Bengaluru, successive party functionaries have used their political “connections” in the state to safeguard their camps.
“While the first case of resort politics was due to a personal connection, in subsequent incidents, governments themselves or parties in power have safeguard poached or legislators loyal to them,” said a senior political observer.
Earlier this week, during a friendly banter on social media, a user suggested tourism minister CT Ravi promote “political tourism” as an option to promote Karnataka as a tourist destination. The minister replied: “We are not very keen on seasonal travellers. Our focus is on round the year tourists whose travels will generate revenue and jobs for the State. Thank You for Your support to #KarnatakaTourism.”
Staggering costs
Perhaps Ravi should pay more attention to the suggestion since costs of housing politicians in the state are humongous. Multiple legislators who played key roles in resort politics say the average cost of hosting legislators can range anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 75 crore a week.
“We block about 70 rooms, each at a cost of Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000. Add food and liquor costs, besides excursions and comfort and the expenditure spiral,” said a legislator. All this is besides the costs of chartered planes and buses to ferry them around.
Congress legislators claim, poaching of the 17 rebels from the Congress-JD(S) coalition would have cost BJP about Rs 500 crore and the Madhya Pradesh operation is said to have cost Rs 35 crore per MLA — a staggering Rs 800 crore.