Behind the transition in Karnataka
By A. Jayaram

Deve Gowda proved wrong those who harboured conspiracy theories and thought he was himself masterminding the break-up of the coalition with the Congress.

THE BHARATIYA Janata Party has made it to power in Karnataka after a 54-year wait, much struggle and many electoral reverses. It is for the first time that the BJP has formed a Government in a southern State. The major group in the Janata Dal (Secular) made this possible by allying with it to form the State's second coalition Ministry. In the process, the two parties unseated the Congress, the traditional party of government in Karnataka. The JD(S) suffered a virtual split.

Apart from the BJP becoming a ruling party, what cannot be missed is the way politics in the State in this phase has hinged on a single family. A revolt by H.D. Kumaraswamy, who has become Chief Minister, against his father, H.D. Deve Gowda, set off the developments. Karnataka has in the past had leaders who challenged the ways of even a leader of the stature of Indira Gandhi. Foremost among them was S. Nijalingappa. Another was D. Devaraj Urs.

Interestingly, Mr. Gowda was a leading light of the Congress (Organisation) led by Nijalingappa, which later became the nucleus of the Janata Party (and the Janata Dal). Now Mr. Gowda has had his authority eroded by his own son. Clearly, he lost his hold over the party he formed in 1999 when the original Janata Dal opted for an alliance with the BJP.

Though in the recent political discourse in the State you frequently hear the words "secularism" and "communalism" vis-à-vis the BJP, not to be forgotten is the latter party's role in forming the first non-Congress Government in the State in 1983. Then an 18-member BJP group gave support from the outside to the Janata-Karnataka Kranti Ranga combine to form a Government under Ramakrishna Hegde as Chief Minister and end the long reign of the Congress.

Through acts such as turning away the rebel MLAs who went to visit him, refusing to bless the political adventurism of his son and staying away from the swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Gowda proved wrong those who harboured conspiracy theories and thought he was himself masterminding the break-up of the coalition with the Congress.

Not many tears are being shed for the Congress-JD(S) coalition that came to an end. They came together to keep the BJP out. The BJP had emerged as the biggest major group in the April 2004 Assembly elections with 79 seats in a House of 224. The JD(S), with 59 seats, helped the Congress, which got 64, to retain power. But at no point was it a functional coalition. From Day 1, the differences between Mr. Gowda and the dominant group in the Congress led by S.M. Krishna, now Governor of Maharashtra, were in the open. Mr. Gowda levelled serious allegations against Mr. Krishna and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In its election manifesto, the JD(S) vowed to jail certain Ministers in the Krishna Government for alleged misdeeds and acts of corruption. The war of words was unending. The acrimony reached a crescendo and it appeared that the Congress and the JD(S) were partners only in the Cabinet hall.

The credit for having kept the arrangement afloat for 20 months goes to N. Dharam Singh, who as Chief Minister displayed a spirit of accommodation. The principal factors behind the breaking of the coalition and the installation of the new one in power were the dread all the MLAs have of a dissolution of the Assembly, clashes in some areas between Congress and JD(S) workers, and a grouse among JD(S) MLAs that their constituencies were being neglected by Congress Ministers.

Only the leaders of the three major parties were speaking of elections. It was the JD(S) MLAs and not Mr. Kumaraswamy by himself who decided to join hands with the BJP. Mr. Gowda did not help matters by favouring the continuance of the alliance with the Congress or threatening to have the Assembly dissolved if the MLAs did not heed his advice.

Legislators, party workers and people in rural Karnataka in particular have grown weary of another round of elections. After the 2004 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the rural electorate has gone through round after round of elections to the gram panchayats, the agricultural produce market yards and the zilla and taluk panchayats. There were also two byelections to the Lok Sabha from Bidar and Shimoga. In all these, the Congress and the JD(S) were on opposing sides.

A proximate cause for the rift between the Congress and the JD(S) was a covert alliance between the Congress and the All India Progressive Janata Dal led by the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Some of the Congress leaders were active in a movement known as AHINDA, a platform of minorities, backward classes and Dalits floated by Mr. Siddaramaiah after he fell out with Mr. Gowda. The alliance with the AIPJD no doubt helped the Congress in capturing two extra zilla panchayats. But ultimately it paid a heavy price.