Bengaluru: Year 2016 will go down as a politically action-packed one with a string of controversies, scandals and crises rocking Karnataka. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had a bumpy ride throughout the year.

In fact, the year began with a setback. The Congress put up a poor show in the byelections to three Assembly constituencies – Hebbal, Devadurga and Bidar. It somehow managed to win the Bidar seat. The subsequent zilla panchayat polls too did not bring cheer to the Congress. With this, the clamour in the party for removal of non-performing ministers grew louder.

Among the bold moves by Siddaramaiah was dropping 13 minsters in a Cabinet reshuffle. V Srinivas Prasad and M H Ambareesh were removed on the grounds of non-performance. A group of senior legislators led by Prasad rebelled against the chief minister. The politically shrewd Siddaramaiah managed to quell the rebellion. The byelections to the Nanjangud constituency would prove whether losing Prasad, a Dalit leader, is a real loss.

Running the administration wasn’t easy either, especially when the police turned agitators. The government was literally on edge when policemen threatened to stage a protest, demanding a pay hike. Besides, three police officers – Anupama Shenoy, M K Ganapathi and Kallappa Handibag – had brought the government to its knees.

While Shenoy had charged the government with supporting the liquor lobby, Ganapathi’s statement on TV before his death, created a political storm, forcing Bengaluru Development Minister K J George to resign. Not surprisingly, he was later re-inducted.

The chief minister had his share of embarrassing moments. One of them was accepting a diamond-studded Hublot watch as a gift from an NRI acquaintance. Siddaramaiah, who claims to be a staunch socialist, had to fumble for words while defending himself. He was forced to declare the costly gift a state asset.

Even before the row over the Hublot watch could subside, another controversy involving his second son Dr Yatindra confronted Siddaramaiah. Matrix Imaging Solutions India, in which Dr Yatindra was a director, had bagged a government contract to set up a diagnostic laboratory. He was accused of using his father’s clout to get the contract. Dr Yatindra was later forced to quit the company.
Siddaramaiah is preparing the ground to bring Yatindra into politics.

The chief minister had a tough time defending himself when his close follower in his home district Mysuru, K Marigowda, publicly abused the then deputy commissioner C Shikha.

The year also was personally tragic for Siddaramaiah. His son Rakesh died in Belgium. Rakesh was seen as Siddaramaiah’s political successor. The state saw Siddaramaiah in tears. However, the chief minister was soon back to his routine.

Both the Cauvery and Mahadayi river water sharing issues continued to be a problem for the state.

It found it difficult to obey the Supreme Court’s order to release water to Tamil Nadu. Karnataka first boldly said it would defy the order and not release water, saying the Cauvery basin was dry. Following arson and violence in which one person fell to police firing, curfew and prohibitory orders were imposed in Bengaluru. Finally, Cauvery water began to flow into the neighbouring state.

The Cauvery issue threw up a surprise. It brought two political adversaries together – H D Deve Gowda and Siddaramaiah.

Gowda stood by Siddaramaiah’s decisions on the Cauvery issue. The chief minister could not have asked for more.

The agitation over sharing the Mahadayi river water turned violent after the
tribunal rejected Karnataka’s plea seeking 7 tmcft of water for the Kalasa-Banduri project.

Towards the end of the year, Siddaramaiah had to face one more scam. This time, it was the sexual escapade of his senior ministerial colleague H Y Meti. The video, which was aired by TV channels, left Siddaramaiah red-faced. Finally, it led to the exit of Meti from the Cabinet. At the same time, the Congress lost the moral high ground that it used to claim after three ministers in the BJP government were caught watching porn clips.

Opposition parties, the BJP and the JD(S), also saw upheavals during the year. Factionalism continues to pose a problem for the BJP. B S Yeddyurappa has been struggling to rein in his bete noire K S Eshwarappa, who is trying to project himself as an OBC leader.

The JD(S), too, had been grappling with rebels in the party. Eight party MLAs raised a banner of revolt against the father-son duo of Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy.