Aravind Gowda: Tightrope walk

After having acquiesced to his son H D Kumaraswamy becoming chief minister of Karnataka, H D Deve Gowda seems busy destabilising him by prompting him to take over the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project promoted by Ashok Kheny "" while clearing the project recently, the Supreme Court also criticised the state government for its role in delaying the project. This is one bit of tightrope walking that Kumaraswamy has to do backstage, without offending his father or the Supreme Court, while building up his stature as chief minister.

At the age of 36, riding high on the Janata Dal wave during the UDF regime at the Centre, Kumaraswamy won the election from South India's largest Parliamentary constituency Kanakapura. Virtually unknown in the party until then, he shot into limelight for breaking the Congress citadel of Kanakapura. For the next few years, he was forced into political oblivion after losing Assembly elections twice. In 2004, he was elected as a MLA for the first time. And shortly thereafter, at 48, he staged one of the biggest political coups in the history of Karnataka by forming the first ever Janata Dal (S)-BJP coalition government.

A producer and exhibitor, and popular in the Kannada tinsel town, Kumaraswamy churned out several Kannada films, some of which grossed crores. He even dared to take on the matinee idol Rajkumar's family, which wanted a forced moratorium on the release of non-Kannada films a couple of years ago.

Political growth under the shadow of his father and elder brother H D Revanna, a two-time minister in the Karnataka government, was never easy. He was elevated to the post of JD (S) state working president in 2004 by Gowda, primarily to control the party indirectly. This propelled his leadership resulting in the split of the party with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah breaking away. As CM, it was evident from day one that the coalition was formed on weak ground with the Ananthkumar camp of the state BJP opposed to deputy chief minister Yediyurappa's camp.

Yet another task in front of him is to set right Bangalore's crumbling infrastructure and the damage done by his father to the IT sector. The first thing he did was to sanction 845 acres land sought by Infosys for its expansion in Bangalore, an issue which was pending for two years. He is often seen at IT summits these days reiterating the government's commitment to assist the industry's growth.

On the political front, too, he is trying to consolidate his position. But in the long run, the major impediment seems to be the enemy within. Gowda, who initially described the formation of the JD (S)-BJP coalition government, as the "darkest day" in his entire political career, later "pardoned" him. Many erstwhile JD (S) leaders simply walked out of the party in the process. How Kumaraswamy will survive his father's influence is the key question facing him and Karnataka right now.