With great fight and speculations, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) made it to power in Karnataka, but since they formed the government, the news about them is not good. Recently, eight legislators from the Congress and three from the JD (S) handed their resignations to the assembly speaker. It would bring the one-year-old coalition government led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on the brink of collapse.
After almost a year of false alarms, a total of 11 legislators from both Congress and JD(S) handed in their resignations, threatening to send the state into a political crisis. The coalition government has failed in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the state. The list included Congress legislators like Munirathna, Byrathi Basavaraj, and S.T.Somashekar, all three considered close associates of former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who has in the past been accused of engineering dissent and destabilising the government to settle personal scores with the JD(S) top leadership.
It was good for the Congress to have projected Siddaramiah as their Chief Ministerial candidate and allowed him to have a larger say in running the election campaign in the state. Congress became weak because of the high-command culture, which BJP has also adopted. Centralisation of all power makes decision-making quicker but in the long run, it keeps the state units weak and the party becomes weak.
In Karnataka, it is not certain who the boss is. Initially, Congress was firm that only one seat will be allowed for Siddaramaiah for contesting. However, Siddaramaiah had his way. He blackmailed the party that he will not canvass for the party if another seat is not allowed. High command caved in or Siddaramaiah took the role of high command.
Siddaramaiah had his say in seat allotment. He took the lion share of 140 seats approximately for his supporters. All others had to accept and had no other go. Congress’ plan of minority tag to Lingayats is not helping the party. In fact, more Lingayats have distanced from the party. Congress has built its base in Karnataka with some good contribution during the Siddaramaiah government, but the alliance has messed it all.
Good food subsidy scheme under Anna Bhagya is providing 30 kg rice per month at Re 1 per kg to 10.2 million families. Ksheera Bhagya scheme is providing 150 ml milk thrice a week to 6.5 million children studying in state-run and aided schools across the state to check malnutrition and prevent dropout. Bhagyalakshmi and Kutir Jyoti schemes are waiving off Rs 268 crore arrears due from two million energy consumers in rural areas.
Basava Housing Scheme built houses for people whose income is below Rs 32,000 a year. With Krishi Bhagya, we achieved sustainable growth in agriculture by implementing several new farming projects and provided financial support to farmers for the purchase of their farming equipment. Congress really did well in their five independent years of governance. However, gradually as the party faced a decline in the Lok Sabha elections, some of the party workers are making it more embarrassing for Congress. BJP thrives on such opportunities because break and make is their favourite policy.
Looking at the fact, one should realise that Congress and BJP both are equally corrupt. However, in rural areas, Congress is better. To be honest, religion does not fill our stomach; so, BJP is not an option for the poor. Though the people may say freebies are not good, I have seen a countless number of families living happily with the free rice from the current government. Also, Congress has done a good job in allotting the land for small farmers that BJP is always against.
In urban areas, BJP works better (roads, infrastructure, etc.) but it does communal politics. Although BJP tried its best to retain power but their CM candidate had to step down as they could not show the majority.
The year-old coalition in Karnataka, wobbly from the start, has struggled with revolt and infighting since it came to power in May last year. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy , who is in the US on a private trip, as well as the Congress, have accused the BJP of relentlessly pursuing their lawmakers and attempting to bring the government down.
The Congress and the JD (S) together have 118 members in the 224-seat state assembly, along with one BSP and one Independent member. The defections will bring its numbers down to 105 and the majority mark in the assembly from 113 to 106. BJP has 105 legislators, expecting to be invited to form a new government if the ruling coalition lacks the number count.
If the resignations are accepted, the ruling coalition will no longer have a majority in the assembly.
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