This is a column on the happennings in Karnataka, with particular reference to current affairs bringing to bear more than four decade old experience in covering the current affairs in Karnataka.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012


Dilemma more for voters than for political parties?
HUBLI, Sept, 26rd 2012

            Karnataka has been virtually on an election mood, ever since the tornado  Yeddyurappa, his misdeeds and political tantrums hit the political scene for more than a year ago  making it  almost  impossible for any successor governments of the BJP survive. But the party has gamely pulled on, notwithstanding the total collapse of the administration. The day of reckoning dreaded by   the political parties is drawing near at last.
            Now the  question that is being discussed all over has been what  the fresh poll in the state holds in store for the people  who are expecting a reasonably good government to carry on the affairs and the state of preparedness on the part of the voters, the political parties concerned.
            As for as the voters  as a class are concerned,  one third  of the electorate has been consistently staying away from poll with no efforts made either by the election authorities or the political parties to find out the reasons  and take steps to  minimise the  non-participation of the voters. This is despite the fact that electorate itself has increased  four crore mark, with the turn out in the poll going up from 211 lakhs in 1994 to 261 lakhs in 2008.
            The voters who showed a clear inclination for Congress in the initial period for more than two and half decades have  veered away  to become  more and more anti Congress in their political thinking. It has been happening since 1983 when the states first non Congress government was formed under the aegis of late Ramakrishna Hegde. In the six election held since then Congress has won only twice, while the non Congress outfits including the JD and BJP won four times, and that included two coalition governments, in one of which the Congress was a partner.
            A qualitative change occurred in the scenario in the post 2008 election period. It has been that for the first time in the history of the state, the Congress lost its primacy as the party which got the highest voters support, notwithstanding the its success or failure in the election. The BJP virtually galloped to nudge away the Congress from the pedestal with a slight edge over the latter.  A careful study of the voting pattern reveals that the Congress has not been able to receive a single extra vote since 1999 despite the increase in the voters and turnout in the polls. It has remained static since then.
            The voters appear to be highly politically polarised too, especially in the last two elections, with more than 90% of the polled votes being shared by the three parties, namely the Congress, the BJP and the JDS leaving other parties and independents far behind. Among the three parties, the Congress and the BJP lead, cornering 75% of the polled votes in 2008 and 63% in 2004 elections. The last of the triumvirate the JDS  stands far behind  in the race  making it clear its inability to vie for the top honours and making it  clear it has only play a subsidiary role and not a pivotal role in the state politics.
            The point at issue    for the 2013 elections would however be whether there will be any clear let up in the anti Congress mood of the electorate to the extent of putting the Congress in the saddle for the first time since 1999.
Indications at the moment are quite hazy and one can hardly hazard any guess on the mood of the voters, who have always played their cards close to their chest. Or would the voters throw away their hands in sheer disgust to allow a status quo of sorts continued to put back the state in the mould of the coalition government once again.
            As for as the run-up of the parties, and their preparations for the next hosting is concerned, the picture is quite dismal. None of the three parties have shown that they can be trusted to deliver goods. They have more negative than any positive points to offer.
            Take for example the ruling BJP. Its rise to political power is a recent phenomenon. It came into prominence after the decimation of the Janata Dal experiment of a rise of the third force in the state. As a matter of fact the BJP rose in power on the ashes of the united JD.   While the rump of the united JD namely the Devegowda led JDS  has not been able to regain the ground lost by the parent party, the BJP built its mansion, steadily galloping towards power in every election since 1999  to come to power on its own merit in 2008.
            Everything appeared set for a long reign of the BJP when Yeddyurappa assumed power as the first BJP Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2008. The opposition was in shambles and there was none to challenge his political hegemony either within the party or outside. The series of by-elections engineered by the BJP through operation Kamala, established his stature as the tallest political leader in Karnataka, who was assured of long political innings in the foreseeable future.
            But everything is in shambles today. The BJP has lost total credibility among the people. The saffron government of Karnataka, has proved to be worst ever government Karnataka had seen in its more than five and half decades of history. Its ministers and legislators are more interested in making hay rather than serving people to turn Karnataka into a cess pool of corruption of unprecedented dimensions.  From the way the skeletons of different dimensions on land denotification, illegal mining and its ilk are tumbling down the BJP cupboard, it looks as if the ministers of the government were only interested in lining their pockets rather than govern the state. Corruption is openly encouraged by government in myriad ways and the typical example has been the manner in which the government has deliberately made the Karnataka LOkayukta, the potent instrument for fighting corruption dysfunctional. Under one or the other pretexts it has kept the Lokayukta post vacant for nearly year stymeing its all activities.
            And all this has been brought about by one single man, Yeddyurappa, who went to  electorate in 2008 election with folded hands  imploring them to give “chance to BJP” to govern the state. The electorate would not have responded had they had any idea this was the type of government he wanted to provide.
            He has proved to be the wrecker in chief of the BJP. When he had no option but to quit in the light of the Karnataka Lokayukta report, he was hell bent on seeing that the successor governments led by his own chosen cronies namely Sadanand Gowda and Shettar also do not succeed,. He desired that he would run the state in their name, when Sadananda Gowda did not kowtow his line; he got him mercilessly removed and brought Shettar, who has proved to be a typical “His Masters Voice”. Even with a subservient Chief Ministers, Yeddyurappa has been behaving more like an opposition leader than a mentor to needle his own party government. He berates his own party government like nobody’s business
``          Two more aspects of the personality have come to light. One has been his penchant to keep his personal interest above the party and painting himself bigger than the party himself.  His lust for power.  He has absolutely no sense of remorse over mounting corruption.  He has gone to the extent of blackmailing his own party high command, which has steadfastly refused to given in to his tantrums. And the third has been the manner in which he has been playing the caste card in an unabashed manner and has outwitted the peer, Mr Devegowda, who has always loved to play Vokkalinga card to serve his political interest. In a way Yeddyurappa has gone a step ahead in practicing the craft.
            In the coming elections, the BJP in Karnataka faces a dilemma. It is totally divided house. From top to bottom, everybody has lost credibility. The party is damned if it gives to Yeddyurappa and is more damned if it does not. He is going to hurt the parties prospects either way if he in or out?  Only the extent of the damage likely to be caused needs to watched
            Can the Congress replace BJP as a ruling party in the coming hustings? The situation is ripe but the party is not. It has also been hit by crisis of leadership thoroughly.  It has at the state of level, bunch of politicians who call themselves as leaders but have no leadership qualities? They are all stuck by the crabs in the jar syndrome, where no crab would allow the other to go up. As an opposition party, it has failed totally. Barring issuing statements from Bangalore, its leaders have hardly done anything and on many occasions, have baled out the government of distress. A vigilant opposition could have put the BJP government on the mat and made things difficult for the ruling party. But the Congress has allowed the government to go scot free. While the ruling party legislators have been accused of turning their attention away when the state went through pangs of widespread drought, one of the worst in the recent years, the Congress men had also no time to think. If each of the legislators had led a public agitation in their own constituencies, the situation would have been different. But that did not happen.
            As explained earlier, the JDS is in capable of staging a comeback as a main line party because of its limited influence and its inability to carve out base outside especially in Northern Karnataka. It is destined to be subsidiary party.  It has like the other two has not bothered to articulate on the grievances of the people. The patriarch of the party Devegowda has no energy to lead the party. His son and heir apparent Kumaraswamy, has not been able to build himself up in the eyes of public. Kumaraswamy had emerged as a younger leader with promise when he headed by JDS BJP coalition. But the manner, in which he reneged on his promise to hand over the power as agreed upon to BJP, has cost him his credibility. He is under the mistaken impression that indulging in diatribe day and in day out would fetch him votes.
                                   Under the circumstances,  it is voters of Karnataka, who have a bigger dilemma  on the choice of the parties, rather than  the political parties in garnering support.
            The choice for the voters is really difficult.  They are required to choose between the BJP, which has proved to be totally incompetent and unscrupulous and the Congress, which is insipid dull and morose Between them is placed the JDS,  which is a political dwarf. It is difficult for the voters to suddenly give up the anti Congress stance and equally more difficult to embrace the Congress.
eom
           
            

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Journalist with standing of more than fifty years in the profession. Retired as the Special Correspondent of The HINDU and has become a columnist on current affairs, the panchayats and other allied subjects