Sadananda Gowda may lose railways, BJP firm on Suresh Prabhu whatever Uddhav Thackeray’s stand

BENGALURU: DV Sadananda Gowda, railways minister at the time of going to press, is being advised to wear tantras (magical threads to ward off evil), appeal to the bhoothas (spirits) and conduct yagnas to destroy enemies and the influence of the troubling Rahu on his horoscope. He has reportedly been told that he must at least pay a visit to Vaishno Devi in Jammu or gift an elephant to the Taliperumba temple in Kerala like his party colleague BS Yeddyurappa often does.

From all perceptions, his ‘stars’ that propelled him on a dizzying rise, from being an obscure lawyer in Dakshina Kannada to the chief minister of Karnataka and now the coveted railways portfolio in the Narendra Modi ministry, have been on an equally rapid decline. His phones were tapped by the Bengaluru police after his son Karthik got embroiled in a scandal with a local small-time actress called Maithreya Gowda.

Then, an old case against Gowda — of illegally obtaining a Bengaluru Development Authority site and constructing a commercial complex — has been raked up. So perhaps, the ‘stars’ and the ‘fates’ have conspired enough, for the political circles in Karnataka are abuzz that Sadananda Gowda is most likely to be dropped from the Modi Cabinet or at least shunted to a less-visible portfolio.

The BJP sources said if Modi does not do this, he will not have any defence left to keep Yeddyurappa out of his cabinet. If Modi has to maintain his ‘clean’ image and keep the growling Yeddyurappa out of his Cabinet, he may have no option but to act against Sadananda Gowda