Now, state politicians revel in name-calling

BANGALORE: Politics is speaking in codes. Take this: Union territory is meeting West End. Or, Bus Stand is talking to South End.
BJP legislators are increasingly using the code to identify their bosses — be it the chief minister or party honchos.
While R Ashoka is referred to as Bus Stand because of the transport portfolio he holds, the Reddy brothers from Bellary are codenamed Union Territory because of their influence.“Like Union territories are managed by the Centre, ministers — G Janardhana Reddy, G Karunakara Reddy and B Sriramulu — and MLAs from Bellary are more or less controlled by the BJP in Delhi,” an MLA from Malnad said.
Yeddyurappa is called West End as he stays next to Taj West End hotel, and BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar is called South End as his residence is located near South End Circle.
An MLA, who didn’t want to be named, explained the rationale: “We feel embarrassed to say, ‘I am going to the CM’s house or visiting a minister’s office.’ Dropping names sometimes doesn’t go well with fellow legislators.” When contacted, Ashoka said he knew that the party legislators called him Bus Stand. “I don’t mind that,” he said.
The aya rams are called Comed-K (an association of private professional colleges which conducts entrance test and allots seats). This means migrants like Umesh Katti, V Somanna and Karadi Sanganna were made ministers under (Yeddyurappa’s) management quota, not on merit.
Grassroots MLAs call themselves CET since the common entrance test is known as government or merit quota. “The meritorious come under CET. We don’t have any management backing us,” an MLA said.
In Congress, three biggies of north Karnataka — N Dharam Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge and H K Patil — were known as Set Dosa (a set of three dosas).