Live by the ore, die by the ore!

BS Yeddyurappa?s three years in office is no small accomplishment in a state where the average tenure of the past 24 chief ministers since 1947 is 31 months. Of them, only nine lasted more than three years. An interesting statistic indeed for one of India?s top industrial investment destinations.

Still, unlike any other government, the overarching issue under which Yeddyurappa came to power, spent his three years in office and which hastened his exit, has been the mining of iron ore, a resource the state has always been known for.

When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Karnataka in 2008, it owed a fair share of its victory to the Reddy siblings of Bellary. The brothers, Janaradhana, Karunakara and Somashekara, who were still an emerging force in the party, swept polls in Bellary and at least three neighbouring districts, giving the party crucial numbers. Still, when the party fell short of a majority by about three seats in the final tally, it was the Reddys who rounded up independent candidates and heaved the BJP and Yeddyurappa into power.

Ironically, the Reddys first came onto the political centrestage in Karnataka in 2006 as whistleblowers of sorts, with Janardhan Reddy, a member of the legislative council, accusing then chief minister HD Kumaraswamy of raising crores of rupees from mining companies in Bellary. That face-off, followed by the threat of releasing incriminating video footage on CDs, took place despite the BJP being Kumaraswamy?s coalition partner.

In Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde?s report on illegal mining submitted last month, however, Janardhan Reddy has been blamed for the collapse of administration in Bellary and also creating a new system that was used by a group of people to transport illegally mined ore to any destination for a share of the revenue, ranging from 30-45%. The zero risk system, as it was called, was a ?single window service for corruption?, according to Hegde.

Contrary to Janardhana Reddy?s claims that he had no mining interests in Karnataka as the Obulapuram Mining Company he owned was located in Andhra Pradesh, the report says that mining interests in Karnataka were held through family members.

According to the report, at least 29 million metric tonnes of illicit iron ore had been exported between 2006-2010 from Karnataka. While Hegde says that all political parties were responsible for the state of affairs, he also points out that the illegalities could have been curbed if the Yeddyurappa government had acted on the first part of his report submitted in 2008.

The mining imbroglio, however, has been the prime cause in precipitating the first revolt that Yeddyurappa?s government faced in October 2009. The chief minister?s most significant attempt to take control of Bellary?by transferring the top officials of various departments from the district and his plan to tax trucks carrying iron ore to raise funds for Karnataka?s worst flood in several decades?had almost toppled his government. By the time a truce had been worked out, however, it was Yeddyurappa who had ceded ground by having to drop his confidante Shobha Karandlaje from the cabinet and re-instate the officials he had transferred.

Yeddyurappa?s constant argument in his defence has been that his order to ban the transport, and export, of iron ore in July 2010 was the first concrete step taken by any mineral-rich state to preserve the resource and curb illegalities. Yet, as the Lokayukta report notes, at least 1.76 million tonnes had been exported in 83 tranches by various companies, a majority of that through Andhra Pradesh, since the ban.

As Hegde notes, the first part of his report did not go into the irregularities in exports while the turning point of the investigation came in July 2010 when over 5 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore that had been seized by the Lokayukta police at Belekeri port vanished. That incident subsequently led to Hegde deciding to resign from the post when the government suspended an officer working on the case.

As Karnataka?s new chief minister, Sadananda Gowda, now attempts to make a fresh beginning, illegal mining or rather the aftermath of it, is bound to dog his government through its remaining 22 months in power. Gowda has said that he would need time to study the report before taking any action on it. Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa has said that he would make a comeback in six months. Some confidence that!