Not a good beginning

It is more than a week since Congress was voted to power in Karnataka and the party has not been able to a ministry in office. Even if in the couple of next few days, some ministers are inducted into the office, it will be definitely less than the allowed strength of 34. This certainly does not augur well for the party, which was voted to power by the people of the state on the single main issue of governance and has many challenges to face in the coming days, politically or otherwise.

It appears that the Congressmen are back in their old game. They are normally pitiable when they are out of power. And once they land in power, they find suddenly transformed to become insufferable.

The first facet for their psyche was evident during the 2004-2013 period, when the party was condemned to warm the opposition benches, barring a brief stint in the coalition government, partnering JDS, notwithstanding the mutual antagonism that marks the relationship between the two.  The Congress supremely lay supine and showed that it had no gumption to function as an effective opposition, despite the induction of Mr. Siddaramaiah somewhere in the middle.

Now that they are back in saddle, the second facet of the persona is slowly unfolding.   Even before the ink could dry on the certificate of their victory given by the Election Commission, the  Congressmen  led by none other  than the newly anointed Chief Minister are back in the game of ugly exhibition of their fixation with pelf and power of office.

The Chief Minister assumes office, without any colleagues to give it the semblance and form of a council of ministers throwing in the process the constitutional propriety to the winds.  And he does not have the patience to wait for the formation of the new council of ministers and goes ahead with announcement of slew of measures on his own, which normally come within the ambit of the cabinet.

There was nothing urgent in the decisions Mr. Siddaramaiah has taken, which could not have waited for a couple of days more till the council of ministers being formed. But the manner in which he has gone about has definitely sent a wrong message not only about his style of functioning but also of his party’s ability to function as a homogenous team to deliver the goods promised to the electorate.

Firstly, his actions bear the stamp of personalised politics (which is a taboo in the Congress culture), a curse which afflicted the BJPs regime, especially when Yeddyurappa was at the helm of affairs and brought it down. Secondly, the fact that  Chief Minister could not at random pickup two or three seniors who could be sworn in along with him to form a council of ministers  gives a clear indication that  all is not well  with Congress and that the cabinet formation under the Congress dispensation bristles with difficulties .

If the new Chief Minister was in a hurry to assume office, the party legislators are not expected to be different otherwise. A horde of legislators, have already descended on New Delhi to lobby for the cabinet berths and “weighty” and “important” portfolios.

One had hardly any idea in the pre election days that the Congress had a surfeit of leaders, who as they themselves have been claiming are capable of handling any responsibility. They were totally invisible or lay dormant, when the party needed their service very badly to check the forays being made by Yeddyurappa under “Operation Kamala”, or for effective functioning as the opposition party to keep a vigil on the wayward functioning of the BJP government under Yeddyurappa. As a matter of fact, the Congress leaders handled the BJP government with kid gloves, prompting the government to get away with impunity, whatever it could, in the absence of opposition’s failure to rein in the government.

But today in the post election scenario,   the power has acted as a tonic to rejuvenate their   spirits enabling them to join the bandwagon of power seekers along with freshers.

Be that as it may, the Congressmen have begun to tie themselves in knots even before passing the muster with the people.  For the party’s reputation to run government after wresting the power has not been good.

It has happened twice in the past, – in 1989 and in 1999. On both occasions, the party’s performance led to the power slipping away.  On both occasions, it was the squabbling within the Janata Dal, which tilted the scale in favour of Congress. And the party did not measure up to the expectations raised.  In 1989, Veerendra Patil, who piloted the party to overwhelming victory, did try to provide good administration but he became a victim of internal power struggle within the Congress. His exit came even before he could complete one year in office. What precipitated the matters was that insider’s inspired communal trouble around Bangalore, which made Rajiv Gandhi sack him virtually. The term saw the post of the Chief Minister changing hands three times, with Bangarappa and Veerappa Moily stepping in. The party failed to govern mainly because of its fratricidal quarrels and paid the price for its indiscretion in the 1994 poll.

In 1999, the Janata Dal which had been split in the meantime to pay a heavy price for the tendency on the part of the leaders in pursuing a personal rather than party favoured agenda. The Congress   won a handsome victory under the leadership of Mr. Krishna. The government lasted for full five years no doubt but the programs of the party designed to appease the urban and elite section of the population alienated the people. He let down Northern Karnataka badly after promising to take measures to redress the regional imbalance.  The meetings held to review drought situation  in Northern Karnataka were held within the comforts of the air-conditioned meeting halls by the Chief Minister, while the people bearing the brunt of the scorching sun and parched throats went  hardly got any meaningful relief.

As a result, the electorate did not renew the mandate for the Congress not only in 2004 but also in 2008. In 2008, the electorate saw to it that neither the Congress nor the JDS had any remote chance of forming the coalition government, and BJP had emerged as a clean winner, though it was one short of the simple majority.

Now that the Congress is back in power now, it faces the prospects of ensuring that the history is not repeated. It must look forward for not only continuing in office for this term but plan for beyond it too. The first test comes in less than a year, in the  form of loksabha elections, when the Congress at the Centre,  would be looking to Karnataka, to make up for whatever the loss in numbers it is likely to suffer in Andhra Pradesh.

For Congress its present victory has come by default mainly as a product of the misdeeds and misrule of the BJP, than as positive votes in favour.  The fact of the matter is the BJP is down but not yet out in Karnataka. The combined strength of the main BJP and the two breakaway groups led by Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu, shows that its base has not suffered any erosion but is up by 11 lakhs votes over 2008 poll, with its support base reaching the level of 101 lakhs as against 114 lakhs of the Congress. If Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu were not to cede away from parent party, the outcome of the assembly elections would have been different.  If the political exigencies demand, and they decide to bury the hatchet for the sake of their sheer political survival, it would be   a formidable force in the forthcoming loksabha elections, which Congress can ill afford to ignore. It looks as it the Congress finds itself on probation. By its performance, it must not only the win the battle of the parliament poll but plan for bigger political innings beyond the current term of the assembly. It has less than a year of time to show its that is better than BJP.

So instead of putting a homogenous face, the Congressmen have put forward the ugly face of dissensions and squabbling over power.   The election of Mr. Siddaramaiah, who is a migrant in party’s parlance, over a party loyalist like Mallikarjun Kharge, has not exactly gone well and the rumblings of anger over a dalit leader like Kharge being denied one more opportunity to occupy the top post are being heard loud and clear. And the ministry making exercise is expected to leave a legacy of grouse and disappointment, because of the inherent difficulties in striking a balance in meeting the regional needs, and social engineering requirements and aspirations. To make the matter worse, Siddaramaiah’s initial behaviour does not inspire confidence as  to whether he could emerge as team leader, to carry all the sections of the party with him, which is the felt need of  the hour. And this is not the best foot the party has put to begin the longer political journey. For, the Karnataka, electorate has shown that it is not averse to change of regime at each election and hence may have no scruples to vote out the Congress if it does not measure up to its expectations.

(Posted on May 17, 2013 @ 4.50pm)

(Author is a Senior Journalist and Columnist.  Mobile: +91 94480 74872     Email : madan.mm@gmail.com)