Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appears to have courted controversy and widespread outrage from the day one. First, he raised many eyebrows by getting himself sworn in alone on 13th May and now he had invited widespread indignation and rancor following his Cabinet expansion exercise on 18th May wherein 28 Ministers including 20 Cabinet Ministers and 8 Ministers of State were sworn in.
It is for the first time in last 30 years that the Chief Minister was sworn in alone. That had set off a chain of dissatisfaction among a section of Congressmen on the grounds that this had sent wrong signals. The Chief Minister could have picked up at least a few seniors and get them sworn in along with him. That would have given a different kind of impression. But the Chief Minister threw the ball in the Congress High command’s court saying he would go by New Delhi’s wishes.
Yesterday too, he created a history of sorts by denying Ministerial berths to senior Congress Members of Legislative Council including SR Patil, Ms Motamma, Veeranna Mathikatti and a few others. Consequently, all MLCs boycotted the swearing in ceremony in protest.
The Chief Minister also created a history by bringing in 5 Cabinet Minister and 8 Ministers of State as the first timers. He had said that he didn’t want to have ‘ tainted people’ in his cabinet. However, that “clause” too has been used in selectively. Siddaramaiah had a great opportunity to create a team which could have established a new benchmark but he could not do that.
Enormous challenges ahead
The Karnataka Chief Minister could have given adequate representation to various districts and even taken caste and region as the basic parameters to fill in his cabinet if that was so necessary and mandatory. In today’s parlance, “competence and credibility” should always be given prominence as compared to”caste and regional calculations”. However, Karnataka has not gone beyond that in last 20 years.
A look at the new Cabinet clearly shows that Bangalore has been given prominence with two Cabinet ministers and two ministers of State each, Mysore has got a quota of 3 Ministers including the Chief Minister himself. Coastal Karnataka has got a bonanza with 4 ministers including three from Mangalore and one from Udupi while Belgaum and Bijapur districts have got two Ministers each. The most bizarre part is that at least 10 districts have no representation in the Siddaramaiah cabinet. !! Was this by design or default can be explained by the Chief Minister himself? Prima facie however, it smacks of his myopic vision and he appears to be convinced that there are no capable people in those districts.
On the other hand, handing over Cabinet portfolio to first timer H Anjaneya from Chitradurga speaks volumes about his gullibility and vision. There were many others who could have been .There were more worthy and qualified for that post.
Moreover, if “keeping out tainted people” was the credo of the Chief Minister as he told media persons in Delhi, he seems to have eaten his own words there too. That is established by the inclusion of RV Deshpande, TB Jaychandra, Baburo Chinchunsur, Ramalinga Reddy, Kishna Byre Gowda and a few others against whom Lokayukta cases are still pending. Many Congress MLAS had in fact, declared in their affidavits that there were various kinds of cases pending against them and even Karnataka Election watch had amply publicized those data and findings. Yet, the Chief Minister chose to see the other way.
Even otherwise, Siddaramaiah cabinet looks more like a Congress-Dal cabinet as at least 11 of his Cabinet colleagues have come from Janata Dal including RV deshpande, V Srinivas Prasad, Krishna Byre Gowda, Kimmane Ratnakar, Santosh Lad, Ambareesh, HC mahadevappa, H Anjaneya, Mahadev Prasad, Satish Jakokiholi and Parameshwara Naik. The only former BJP hand is Shivraj Thangadagii.
Interestingly, 18th May also happens to be the birthday of JD(S) Supremo HD Deve Gowda. By any coincidence or otherwise, was the swearing in of Siddaramaiah cabinet with 12 former JD(S) men in his team like a birthday gift to the ‘Only Mannina maga’ of Karnataka by one of his former disciples who changed sides 7 years ago to become the Chief Minister of a Congress government.? Is there any particular method in madness??
Ominous signals
The Karnataka Chief Minister already seems to have ruffled many feathers within the Congress party and he would have to be ready to face the consequences from the day one. He would have to rise above the mundane to show his magnanimity but also prove that he is capable of weathering recurring storms from within.
One, he appears to have rubbed people like Kagodu Thimappa, R Roshan Baig. A Manju, AB Malaka Reddy and many seniors on the wrong way and they are not going to keep quiet. They will make use of every opportunity to embarrass him.
Two, KPCC president may have joined hands with the Chief Minister in keeping DK Shivkumar out of the cabinet. That does not mean that Dr Parameshwar is going to keep quiet either given that there has been no love lost between both of them and Dr Parameshwar knows that he was let down by the 23000 odd Kuruba community in korategere.
Three, the Chief Minister may have temporarily succeeded in cornering DK Shivkumar who had also staked his claim for the Chief Minister’s post. But a wounded Shivkumar is more dangerous and while he may have been given assurance by Congress President that She would take a call on his future course, it is quite unlikely that DK Shivkumar would let Siddharamaih function peacefully.
Shivkumar loyalists allege that he was done in by Siddaramaiah himself. There are also talks of Shivkumar being made the KPCC president in near future and Dr Parmeshwar being shifted to AICC as General Secretary in the light of the forthcoming Parliament polls. Apart from his image of a ‘ rowdy politician’ as created by his political rivals from the State, the Congress high command is also aware that DK Shivkumar enjoys both money and muscle power to galvanize the party across the State and help the Congress party in getting more MP seats in future. Once he becomes the new KPCC President, he would go all out to pay back Siddaramaiah in the same coin.
Four, Siddaramaiah is not liked by bureaucracy for his rude, curt and blunt ways. A section of bureaucracy may now accept him as their ‘fait accompali’ in duress, but others may not like it and that would be an added cause of worry for him because it is the bureaucracy which implements the vision of the politicians and the Verna man has a major challenge here.
Fifth, a section of Congressmen have also not liked his monumental speech after his swearing in ceremony wherein he made a series of promises as listed in the Congress party manifesto because they feel that implementing even one third of those would be an arduous task.” The Chief Minister made those promises as his own. He has tried to hijack the party for his own success and popularity’ said a senior Congress functionary.
Sixth, the Chief Minister wasted no time in giving a clear indication that he was going to bring back the ‘ Arrack lobby’ from the back door. Many people were left wondering if the gang of JP Narayan Swamy and Thimme Gowda has already started breathing down his neck for getting their pound of flesh as they had supported his election expenses.
The Chief Minister had said immediately after taking oath that “the poor, especially labour class had been hit ever since Arrack was banned in 2007 by BJP- JD coalition government”. He is understood to have already directed state excise department to explore the possibility of introducing a ‘ cheap and safe liquor brand for the poor and labour classes’.
Does that means, Khodays are back into the business with a bang.? Does that mean, the Arrack lobby has started dictating its terms from the day one.? Why was the Chief minister in such a tearing hurry ? Could he have not waited to deliberate on this issue and weigh its merits and demerits in the cabinet meeting and then take a collective decision? Has he committed a constitutional impropriety by taking such a big decision unilaterally? Would Congress government again turn into a ‘ Sarai Sarkara’ as it happened during the Bangarappa period ?
Seven, the Chief Minister showed undue haste once again on the question of cow slaughter bill and order to reverse the policy of BJP government. Consequently, a few local Tv Channels have been lampooning him for this.
Eight, the Chief Minister also rattled out his promise to augment the power situation in the State by not only improving the output of current thermal and hydro power projects but also adding another 12000 MW within another five years. Perhaps he is aware that augmenting the existing power projects to their optimum capacity would require another Rs 23540 crore and adding another 12000 MW would coast him another Rs 48000 crore at the minimum rate of Rs 4 crore per MW. God alone knows where he would get that amount of money and at what rate ?
Ninth, the biggest challenge before the Chief Minister would be the northern part of Karnataka which has been facing acute water crisis. It would be interesting to see how he tackles the irrigation projects in that region. The BJP government could do little help the people of northern Karnataka because of infighting.
As of now, more than 83 out of the total 133 allocated major and medium irrigation projects in northern Karnataka are still pending and it was this kind of complacency which led to major floods in the entire region since 2007.
Unlike major and medium projects in the Old Mysore region which have been by and large completed because of the deft handling by people like KN Nanjge Gowda, HD Deve Gowda and KN Nage Gowda and even SM Krishna , the people of North Karnataka have been cheated by their leaders since 1970s. Right from BB Chimmnankatti to Malhargowda patil, Mallikarjun Kharge, SR Bommai, HK Patil to Basavraj Bommai, none of these leaders could even take up the projects for a time bound implementation.
People of North karnataka have not forgotten that leaders like Siddhu Nywamagowda, SR Kashappanavar , SS Patil and many bothers rode to power promising the completion of those pending irrigation projects and they would continue to see Siddharamaiah with skeptic eyes as well. Even today, more than 47 percent irrigation projects on Krishna waters are far from completion.
It remains to be seen how the new Karnataka Chief Minister would wriggle himself out of those webs and prove his critics wrong. (Posted on May 19, 2013 @ 2.00pm)
(Ajay Jha is a Commentator and Independent Writer and Analyst on Politics, security and Economy of South And West Asia. His email id is: Ajay N Jha <ajayjha30@gmail.com>)
