A cat has nine lives, but does it have tenth?

SHIMOGA: The question whether Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa would complete his five-year term or not, has been haunting the people of Shimoga district as former chief ministers Kadidal Manjappa, S Bangarappa and JH Patel, who hailed from the district, did not complete their terms.Kadidal ManjappaKadidal Manjappa was the chief minister of the old Mysore state for a brief period in 1956 (August 19, 1956 to October 31, 1956). He was known as a Gandhian.S BangarappaSarekoppa Bangarappa become CM in 1990 after unseating then chief minister Veerendra Patil.He had to resign in 1992 due to differences with the party high command.He represented Sorab constituency of the district.J H PatelJayadevappa Halappa Patel of Janata Dal became CM in 1996 after HD Deve Gowda who was CM from 1994 to 1996, was elevated to the Prime Minister’s post.Patel represented Channagiri Assembly constituency in undivided Shimoga district (now in Davangere district).His tenure was plagued by dissidence in the party and he shocked people as well as political leaders by recommending dissolution of the Assembly, six months ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections in 1996.B S YeddyurappaB S Yeddyurappa who has been representing the Shikaripur Assembly constituency for the sixth time (except one in 1999) was deputy chief minister in the JD(S) and BJP coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy in 2006. He was also the CM for a week.After the 2008 Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state and Yeddyurappa took oath as CM of the first-ever BJP government in south India on May 30, 2008.Despite resentment from his own party MLAs and ministers, Yeddyurappa has managed to save his position till date. In October 2009, the Reddy brothers raised the banner of revolt and demanded a leadership change.The CM again faced revolt from a group of his own party MLAs led by minister M P Renukacharya. Later, the dissidence came to the fore again when the CM expanded his Cabinet by dropping some independent MLAs. The BJP government was reduced to a minority when about 17 MLAs, including 11 from the BJP, revolted against Yeddyurappa and withdrew support to the government. As per the directives from the Governor j, the chief minister won the trust motion by voice-vote on October 11.But the Governor recommended President’s rule in the state as the chief minister failed to seek the vote of confidence as per the law. After facing stiff criticism from the Central and state BJP leaders, the Governor redirected Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on October 14, which he did.Yeddyurappa again feared losing his chair, after the Supreme Court quashed the disqualification of 17 MLAs, while at the same time Governor Hans Raj Bharadwaj recommended President’s rule in the state. However, the Union government rejected Governor’s recommendation.This time, BJP Central leaders bayed for Yeddyurappa’s blood as he was indicted by the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.People and political leaders are waiting with bated breath to know whether Yeddyurappa will save his chair this time too.