No matter what opinion the senior leader of BJP L. K. Advaniji holds about B. S. Yeddyurappa the former Chief Minister, the truth is that BJP would be dead for Karnataka for the near future without him. Advaniji has used strong words against Yeddyurappa, as if he is a pariah, untouchable in BJP. His dislike was so intense he declared that no matter BJP and its government disappear from Karnataka, Yeddyurappa must go in order to uphold the values of his party BJP.

Well, personally Advaniji may have upheld certain political values like when he quit office on being accused in the Hawala Scandal, for example. But then personal integrity or one instance of upholding values in politics will not keep the BJP afloat against the scheming opposition political parties.

It is really NOT surprising Advaniji was spewing venom at Yeddyurappa in a language that is not commonly used against one's own party member unless that member has either irredeemably damaged the image of the party or has been found guilty of a criminal act by a court of law, NOT by a Report with many legal and even moral infirmities like the one of Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde.

I have said this before and I will say it again based on what I have heard and read about the Report in the newspapers that the avoirdupois of the Report carried in trunks is an exercise in showmanship rather than in honest enquiry. It is not the number of pages — running to thousands and I wonder if any one would read it without cheating — but the fair, just, unbiased, all inclusive, sans prejudice text that matters. Let it be.

What could be the reason for Advaniji's hatred, as revealed from his language, towards Yeddyurappa the RSS and BJP man who was primarily responsible to bring BJP to power in South by his own Machiavellian, Chanakyasque skills? In Kannada, we have a word for it. Vyamoha. BJP's MP for the fourth time Ananth Kumar, who is said to be his protégé – become - foster son, a member of his extended family is the reason. We know Ananth Kumar was Advaniji's candidate for Chief Minister from the day Yeddyurappa assumed charge as Chief Minister on May 30, 2008. And what are Ananth Kumar's credentials? Less said the better. I had earlier given the example of what happened to Congress by making Gundu Rao the Chief Minister.

I was in Bangalore for a week during those turbulent days in State politics and had the opportunity of speaking to Dr. V. S. Acharya, Higher Education Minister and a few friends at a wedding in a 5-star hotel. Dr. Acharya was clearly for Yeddyurappa and his Chief Ministerial candidate Sadananda Gowda. However, he did not forget to tell me that "finally it is the High Command," meaning he would toe the line of the High Command as a loyal party man. With a sly smile he told me that "your friend is supporting Shettar." For a moment I did not understand. Then in a flash I realised he was talking about S. A. Ramdas. At that point of time, Ananth Kumar and K. S. Eshwarappa were already off the board as Chief Ministerial candidates. I appreciated Dr. Acharya. But a couple of others were of a different opinion. "Ananth was the leader who could get so many seats from Bangalore." I told them, "My dear friends, Bangalore is not Karnataka. I remember the days when sycophants called Jaffar Sharief the King of Bangalore," and asked for another drink.

Now let me move away from Advaniji and Dr. Acharyaji. After all, as in private life so also in political life there is what is known as generation gap.

I must indeed compliment here two wise men of BJP High Command — Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh. Both are level - headed, pragmatic and most importantly COOL. In their appearance and speech they may look and sound grave and harsh, but they know what inner - party democracy is, how important it is. They know the damage the culture of “sealed envelope” or the High Command taking arbitrary decision after a sham meeting of individual MLAs in selecting the leader [Chief Minister] of the BJP Legislature party would cause to the party.

Which is why in yesterday's meeting, when Jagadish Shettar group demanded secret balloting as against Yeddyurappa group which opposed it, the Central Observers rightly allowed secret balloting. For once there was no imitation or replay of Congress culture!

The divide in the party meeting is almost vertical. The Central Observers may well note this. Yeddyurappa was once again lucky — Sadananda Gowda, Yeddyurappa's candidate, got 62 as against Jagadish Shettar who got 55. A difference of just seven votes. Yet, it is a victory not so much to Yeddyurappa or Sadananda Gowda as to the inner-party democracy of BJP. Advaniji should learn, yes learn, to preach and appreciate this kind of values. Not the kind of value Sri Rama practiced while banishing Seeta on an untenable accusation made by a washer - man against her. That was in Tretayuga. Now on Advaniji may stop engaging himself in political value - addition exercise to those who can't bring BJP to power in Karnataka.

Be that as it may, what morally disturbed me was the conduct of one whom I admired as a politician and also as a good human being. That is Urban Development Minister S. Suresh Kumar. Reports said that he and Tumkur MLA Sogadu Shivanna “decided not to vote”. That means they did not vote. I don't know about Shivanna. But as for Suresh Kumar, it is nothing but being politically incorrect, smart and clever. Not just that. He is guilty of violating the sublime political principle in democracy of not honouring the “inner - party democracy”. Does he support the hidden philosophy of RSS known as “benevolent dictatorship”? After all, his name too was floating around as a Chief Ministerial candidate, though he did not have numbers. One can read between the lines. Dictatorship, even if it is benevolent, is an evil. What seems benevolent to begin with will always degenerate into an autocratic evil of a dictatorship. Which is why Soviet Union collapsed. Which is why dictatorships in the Arab world are collapsing like ninepins as we see today.

And finally, whatever happened to JD (S)? Where is H. D. Kumaraswamy? Is it because his name too is mentioned in the Report? Why H. D. Deve Gowda is not talking about the fall of Yeddyurappa? However, Y. S. V. Datta is making up for their reticence by indulging in a sort of verbal diarrhoea both on TV and newspapers.

The Report finally might have done Yeddyurappa in and let others on a long leash while setting free others who might have benefitted more from mining scandal than Yeddyurappa who is a new entrant. But, at the end it is nothing but a dirty political vendetta against Yeddyurappa, surprisingly assisted by some of his own State party leaders who would not have tasted power but for Yeddyurappa. There will always be people who will bite the very finger that fed them. Kaliyugada Mahatme.

We know Yeddyurappa had through press advertisements and through his proxy B.J. Puttaswamy, made many allegations of corruption with regard to mining, land denotification, land and site allotments etc., against his predecessors in office without taking them to their logical, legal end. Now is the time for him to drag all of them to a law court with evidence that he claimed he has and vindicate himself. As for them, they are already on the job of dragging Yeddyurappa to both criminal and civil courts. As a first step the Governor, as reported yesterday, has already given his nod for prosecuting Yeddyurappa based on the Report.

All this apart, it is time for the State BJP to take the call, accept the new Chief Minister and stay united till the next election two years away. The BJP must also accept the truth that today Yeddyurappa is the BJP's kingmaker in Karnataka. After all, the time - tested truth is — united we stand, divided we fall.