Karnataka coalitions – Political opportunism at its lowest
Deepak Nagpal
India is a land of elections. After all, it is the biggest democracy in the world. Presidential Elections, Parliamentary Elections, Assembly Elections, Municipal Elections, Panchayat Elections… the list is endless. With every election providing a chance to just about anyone and everyone to grab power, people – especially politicians – in this country have become power hungry. After all, who doesn’t want to rule over others?
If only the hunger for power was restricted to elections, there would be nothing to worry about. However, it is not the case. Most politicians in India feel it is a shame to sit in the opposition. Otherwise, why would they go to any extent, examples of which are probably unprecedented in history, to grab power?
A classic example of this case is the land of Gowdas. Yes, the southern state of Karnataka, which derives its name from the Kannada words karu and nadu, meaning ‘elevated land’. However, in contradiction to the state’s literal meaning, its politicians in the recent past have sunk to untouched depths in search of power.
In just over 41 months, the state witnessed the collapse of three coalition governments – not because of ideological differences but political expediency. While the country in general and the state in particular shouldn’t have been surprised over the developments, keeping in mind the coalition era ushered in Karnataka only after the last Assembly Elections in 2004, what shocked the nation was how the last two alliances fell.
The start
The 2004 elections in May had delivered a three-way fractured verdict, with BJP and its allies winning the maximum seats (84). However, it was Congress (64) and JD(S) (59) who joined hands to install the state’s first-ever coalition.
N Dharam Singh headed the Congress-led coalition government but his stint could last only 20 months and collapsed on January 27, 2006. His government’s fall was brought about by JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy.
The reasons behind the collapse of the Dharam Singh government were many – one of them being the deteriorating infrastructure of state capital, Bangalore. Several InfoTech companies had expressed concern about the future of the city as India`s IT hub.
But what spelled doom for the Congress-led coalition were the accusations levelled by a section of JD(S) legislators, who accused Dharam Singh of ill-treating them. The political turmoil reached its climax when these MLAs, led by Kumaraswamy, withdrew support to the government and aligned with the ‘communal’ BJP to form an alternate government.
While Deve Gowda did not publicly back his son’s moves, many in the political circle believed the former Prime Minister staged a "political drama" to fulfil his ambition of making his son the Chief Minister of the state.
The ‘ditcher’ King
Kumaraswamy took oath as the state Chief Minister on February 3 with BJP’s BS Yediyurappa as his deputy. The BJP-JD(S) coalition government came into existence under an arrangement whereby, the two parties agreed that the JD(S) will lead the government in the first 20 months and the BJP will take over the charge for the remaining 20 months of 12th term of Karnataka Assembly.
Kumaraswamy managed to start off as Chief Minister with a lot of goodwill from the people, despite the fact that he caused the fall of a coalition government in which his party was a partner. At the start of his tenure, Kumaraswamy announced a slew of programmes to shake up the lethargic and corrupt administration.
But his image took a beating after the programmes he announced either failed to take off or progressed at a slow pace. Bangalore – the IT capital of India – continued to suffer, just as it did during the Dharam Singh government. Roads remain pot-holed and traffic snarls showed no sign of abating, leading to criticism of the Kumaraswamy government. The BJP too had to swallow many decisions taken unilaterally by its coalition partner, but it chose to remain quiet, knowing that time was not too far when it will have its first-ever government in the South.
In the run-up to the October 3, 2007 transfer of power, the Kumaraswamy-led JD(S) kept reiterating that it will honour the power-sharing pact, but mixed signals began to emerge from the JD(S) as the deadline neared. After his ministerial colleagues, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s tone too began to change. Some of his ministers even described Yediyurappa as "incompetent" to head the government.
Also fuelling the uncertainty this time was Kumaraswamy`s father Deve Gowda, who during the fall of Dharam Singh government had tried to distance himself from his son’s actions. However this time, he gave ample indications that he was on his son’s side and was not in favour of handing over power to the BJP, which he had once called ‘communal’.
As the power transfer deadline loomed over the coalition with no signs of any breakthrough, the BJP central leadership got panicky and despatched senior leaders to Karnataka for discussions with the JD(S) in a bid to bring about a solution.
But the problem had mounted with BJP’s controversial Tourism Minister B Sriramulu filing murder charge against Kumaraswamy. The annoyed CM lashed out at the BJP, saying "this incident will remain ever embedded in my mind", thereby further pushing the government to the brink.
In the midst of all this, a good showing by the JD(S) in the urban local bodies’ elections spoiled whatever chances the BJP had of coming to power. "We have to respect the verdict (of the people) in the (urban bodies) elections," Gowda said to make his intentions clear.
The storm
And on October 1, the JD(S) made it known to the world that it was not going to transfer power to the BJP and also accused the saffron party of not following ‘coalition dharma’. The party accused BJP ministers, MPs and legislators of tarnishing Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda’s image by levelling corruption charges.
The BJP then withdrew support to the JD(S)-led coalition and Kumaraswamy resigned on October 8. A day after, President’s Rule was imposed in the state in the face of political deadlock. But prior to the development, Kumaraswamy did a U-turn and agreed to tender letter of support to BJP to enable it to form the government. This followed resentment among its legislators about not honouring the power-sharing pact. However, the BJP high command did not show any interest in the offer.
As days passed without power, politicos got restless with efforts being made to reach a compromise. After the once-bitten state Congress refused to take up the fresh offer to join hands with the JD(S), Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy agreed to a BJP CM in a bid save the party from splitting following infighting. BJP’s high voltage campaign against the JD(S) over denial of chief ministership also played a role in Gowda’s U-turn.
The eight-day CM
On November 8, exactly a month after the Kumaraswamy government fell, the President’s Rule was revoked paving the way for Yedyurappa (he had dropped ‘i’ from his name by then) to realise his dream of being the state Chief Minister. Four days later, Yedyurappa’s aspirations were fulfilled.
But his chances of surviving for long looked bleak, with the JD(S) pushing for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), outlining guidelines to share power and for smooth running of the government. But the BJP was not game for the MoU as it contained several ‘unacceptable’ clauses.
And the worst became a reality on November 19 when the Yedyurappa government fell after failing to prove majority in the House, thanks to the JD(S) ditching it during the motion of confidence. Sadly, the first-ever BJP government in the South could not even complete eight days in power.
A shell-shocked Yedyurappa accused JD(S) of betraying trust and its leader Deve Gowda of trying to kill him through ‘black magic’. "It is the worst form of coalition politics," he added.
The drama ends
A day after the latest political drama ended in Karnataka, the Centre moved swiftly and placed the state under President’s Rule with its Assembly in suspended animation.
Even after all this, JD(S) chief Deve Gowda did not shy away from scoring some brownie points and said it was the BJP which started the "stamp paper business" (MoU) by putting forward several conditions, which were not acceptable to his party.
Senior JD(S) leader MP Prakash further announced that his party was ready to support the Congress for government formation in the state. But the Congress resisted the temptation to come to power after seeing what had happened in the state over the past few tumultuous weeks.
The political uncertainty was put to rest when on November 29, the Congress-led Union government dissolved the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
A little over a week later, JD(S) suffered a setback after senior leader M P Prakash, along with a dozen dissident members of the dissolved Assembly, quit the outfit. In March, the former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister joined the Congress along with his followers.
The Central Election Commission has, meanwhile, announced a three-phase election for Karnataka Assembly. While polling will be held on May 10, 16 and 22, counting of votes will take place on May 25.
President’s Rule in the state, meanwhile, has been extended for another six months. The extension became necessary as the current term of the President`s Rule will expire on May 19, but the election process would be completed only by May 28.
What lies ahead?
While one storm has settled, another one has just begun. After all the accusations and allegations of betrayal of trust and ‘coalition dharma’ between the BJP and JD(S), it seems probable that every party which has a stake in the Karnataka elections will tread along cautiously.
And almost all parties have announced that they are going all alone in the May elections. Trust, it seems, doesn’t figure anymore in the dictionary of political parties in the state, at least for now.
That is why JD(S), BJP, Congress, JD(U) and BSP have all decided to contest the elections without any pre-poll alliance. Only CPI(M) has said that it will support Congress, JD(S) and Samajwadi Party in the Assembly polls. The Left party has decided to back Congress, JD(S) and SP candidates in constituencies where it is not contesting.
While it is clear that JD(S) will contest the polls alone, BJP was expected to go along with NDA ally JD(U). However, the two could not reach any agreement on seat sharing in 224-member Assembly and decided to go their separate ways. BJP’s position on alliance with another NDA ally, AIADMK is still not clear.
JD(S) leader Deve Gowda has, however, said that he was not averse to post-poll arrangements with parties like SP in case his party needs numbers for forming a government.
A wary Congress was expected to stay out of any alliance and this is what it has done. However, to boost its chances in the state, the party has recalled senior party leader and former Chief Minister SM Krishna, who was getting ‘bored’ at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s BSP, which is creating waves across the nation, too has decided to contest all 224 seats alone, saying it couldn’t afford to lose its vote base to any other party. It seems Karnataka could become another state where BSP will play the role of ‘king maker’ and hold the ‘key’ to the seat of power.
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