In the year ahead the southern state of Karnataka will go to assembly polls to elect the next government. All parties have begun their preparations and begun their campaign. The state is considered as the gateway to power in the south and BJP is in the fore front leading a direct charge on the ruling Congress party and trying its best to wrest power form them. But Karnataka is not about the BJP and the Congress parties alone; there is the JD(S) which is known to punch above its weight and no political calculations, arithmetic or chemistry is complete without the sons-of-the-soil party’s contribution to the state of Karnataka.
Analysis of three major political parties in the state.
The Indian National Congress (INC): Karnataka has always been a favourite of the party and the people have never let the first family down when it comes to electing their preferences and showering their love and respect to the Gandhi family. The recently concluded elections in December 2017 have made things clear as to where the party stands and how it can put up a good fight. The same was evident when the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi (RaGa) led the party from the front; put up a tough fight; made the BJP sweat in its home turf; restricted them to a mere 99 seats and made mockery of its Mission 150 seats and not letting them cross the three digit mark! This was a splendid performance put by the party and did not let the BJP walk away easily with victory. Entire rural Gujarat voted for the Congress party, while the BJP did well in the urban areas. RaGa discovered the virtues of soft-Hindutva and by temple hopping, his prayers were answered as he gave the Ram Bhakts sleepless nights and changed the election agenda in Gujarat. Congress made alliances with upcoming leaders whose sole agenda was to defeat the saffron party. They joined hands in achieving their objective but failed in the final lap as some unsavoury remarks were made against the Prime Minister by a senior spokesperson and this jibe turned out to be Achilles’ heel of the party. The BJP leadership en cashed the verbal assault to the fullest and left no stone unturned in explaining the mindset of the Grand Old Party (GOP) to the gullible masses.
The silver lining post the Gujarat elections and after taking over as the new AICC President, RaGa has found new vigour and enthusiasm. He has finally discovered his political legacy and has to live up to the high expectations from the cadre and inspire them and show that he is in charge and deliver results. Karnataka is one of the last few states (along with Punjab) with the party and RaGa has to put on a splendid performance in retaining the same as his party is firmly stationed there.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah: But elections are not of top heavy central leadership and high command, but it is the leaders on the ground with their ears firmly to the ground. CM Siddaramaiah, will be the first Chief Minister in recent times to complete his full-five year term whenever the state goes to the polls and this clearly explains his capability. He has been leading from the front, showing the right way to misguided souls and has lived up to the expectations of his party members. The Opposition made light of his many ‘Bhagya’ schemes, but they have been known to be popular amongst the masses. He has also kept the infighting among the many factions in the party quiet, has addressed them and managed to keep the flock united.
But there is a new dimension to his character and that is taking on the BJP leadership at the drop of a hat and paying them back in the language they understand. He has locked horns with the entire BJP leadership and is not known to restrain himself in duelling with them. Instances of verbal spat and repartee between the BJP National President and the CM of UP have become the new normal in Karnataka. The entire state leadership of the Congress is on its toes when national leaders from the BJP visit the state and they never let go of any chance to embarrass them and indulge in verbal volleys of the worst kind. The CM, has also been unsparing on the senior opposition leaders and never restrains himself when local issues are debated and highlighted. He is playing an offensive game and putting on a good performance no matter what the odds.
State of Affairs in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The BJP has been having a dream run under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah. The duo added two more feathers of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh victory to their crowded caps and have single handedly changed the fortunes of the party. The BJP now rules 19 states across the length and breadth of the country. After each election they have set the performance bar higher; and every state they enter to canvass, victory follows them wherever they go. The Parivartan yatra, which started on November 02, 2017, finally came to an end at the Palace grounds in Bengaluru, when PM Modi addressed the large crowds. The yatra has been a long drawn one, unrelenting and has touched every nook and corner of the state. How much Parivarthan happens will be known only after the results of the elections are declared? The state leadership is not vested with much responsibility like the previous elections. The central leadership’s influence is all pervading in its choice of candidates and its decisions are final. In the upcoming elections the state leaders have no discretion and little say in decision making and choosing their favourite candidates for different seats. The party has declared the CM candidate well in advance and the party leaders have to work in achieving the same. Even the BJP has to learn to live with infighting and this is known to the party cadre and is often spoken in hushed up tones.
What’s in store for Janata Dal (Secular)?
The son of the son-of-the soil (former PM HD Devegowda) HD Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister of Karnataka also popularly known and addressed as Kumaranna, has been in the political wilderness since the year 2007 when the JD(S) and the BJP came together formed alliance, shared political power and as they say the rest is history. JD(S) has far at stake on hand in the upcoming assembly elections as they have been made to sit in the Opposition for a long 10 years, speaks volumes about their patience.
The new slogan among the cadre is Karnataka Ke Kumaranna (meaning HD Kumaraswamy for Karnataka) is a catchy phrase to win more seats. Kumaranna also got a new lease of life after undergoing an operation and is ready both physically and mentally to face new challenges in his political journey ahead. The party is also hopeful of increasing its tally of seats and form the government all by itself highlights the new confidence amongst the members of the political family.
The JD(S) promise to the voters is to waive of farmer loans and weavers within 24 hours after coming to power. According to them, both the BJP and the Congress party have failed the farmers and the state has registered highest suicide rates in the last 10 years ( BJP & Congress party’s tenure); and also added that there were very few deaths in the brief period of 20 months of the JD(S) in 2006-07.
There are many firsts to the brief period when the JD (S) was in power, they being: HDK the only Chief Minister to give importance to North Karnataka; he also held the first session at Belagavi in the year 2006 and was instrumental in building the new Suvarna Vidhana Soudha and announced Belagavi as the second capital of the state. A cricket stadium also sanctioned in his tenure, which is now functional. Also there were few incidents of communal violence and no violence with regard to the border issue. HDK is a mass leader and the Chief Ministerial face of the party. The JD(S) is of the opinion that the BJP and the Congress party are puppets of their respective party high command. Whereas the JD(S) is a true regional party and they do not have to go to New Delhi to take decisions in the state.
Regional parties are kings in their kingdom and they work according to the aspirations of the people of the state. The JD (S) believes that only a regional party can understand and solve the problems of the people. Karnataka also witnessed high growth rates during the tenure of the party and the same is yet to be achieved even after 10 years of majority rule of the BJP and Congress parties respectively.
