Storm along Bellary campaign trail

BELLARY: The ban on export of iron ore and intervention of the Supreme Court shutting down a few key mines in the district might have settled the dust in the iron mines in Bellary, but the political dust is far from being settled.On Wednesday, two former chief ministers — B S Yeddyurappa and H D Kumraswamy — hit the campaign trail, though none from the JD(S) are in the fray, and Kumaraswamy per se has no locus standi in the byelection after the party  had decided not to contest the bypoll by terming it “insignificant and a wasteful exercise”.The presence of CM D V Sadananda Gowda and a battery of top Congress leaders was overshadowed by these two former CMs, who drew attention of the media, amid a vociferous campaign by former minister and Independent candidate B Sriramulu.Yeddyurappa, who failed to take any action when in power to curb the Bellary brothers,  gave a stern warning stating, “The government will not tolerate anymore goondaism like they did earlier.”Yeddyurappa, who on many earlier occasions was politically cornered by the Reddys, hit back by saying that the government programmes had not reached the people of Bellary. This struck him after visiting parts of Bellary Rural Assembly constituency. “The people used to say that Bellary was at the mercy of the Reddys. Now I realise that no government programme has reached the masses here,” he added.However, his predecessor Kumaraswamy had a lot of explaining to do before the media on his presence in Bellary. He fumbled to give a proper reply when quizzed on who the Independent candidate was that the JD(S) was supporting. “Any winning Independent candidate,” the former CM said, but fell short of taking Sriramulu’s name.Further, the JD(S) state president was compelled to say “party workers have been asked to remain neutral and people should choose an able Independent candidate”.