BJP Should Have Opted For Fresh Poll In Karnataka

By Sagarneel Sinha

Finally, B.S. Yediyurappa of the BJP became the chief minister of Karnataka for the fourth time. Since the formation of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy of JD(S) last year after the assembly polls failed to give a clear verdict to any party, Yediyurappa has been anxiously waiting to occupy the post of the chief minister. And, eventually, Yediyurappa, party’s tallest leader coming from the powerful Lingayat community, succeeded and saffronised Karnataka — the only south Indian state in BJP’s kitty.

But the key point is BJP in its hurry to capture power in Karnataka missed the golden opportunity. The party should have preferred fresh elections instead of forming government in the assembly with a wafer majority. The present political scenario also puts the BJP as the most favourable party. The Congress-JD(S) coalition was not wholly accepted by the supporters of the two parties as both the parties were rivals till the assembly elections. JD(S) of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda is mainly concentrated in only Old Mysore region of the state — not even a pan Karnataka party — where it has traditionally competed against the Congress as BJP, till recently, was not even a strong contender in the region.

But in the Lok Sabha elections, despite hopes that alliance mathematics would prevent the saffron party, the coalition absolutely fell flat with the BJP registering an almost a clean sweep winning 25 out of total 28 seats. After the shocking result, there were speculations that the time was near for the already shaky coalition government. Ultimately, after two months of the Lok Sabha elections, the government fell down as both ruling partners failed to control the dissent within their own parties and also the existing discomfort between them which was evident since the two parties joined hands to prevent BJP. So, actually, this coalition government was destined to fall one day before the completion of its 5 year term.

The opportunistic alliance of Congress-JD(S) has actually made them unpopular among their supporters which was evident in the Lok Sabha elections. However, the question is — Why BJP despite being favourable in the present political scenario didn’t prefer fresh elections and instead formed the government where still there is still uncertainty over longevity of the Yediyurappa government?

The weeks long political drama that the state witnessed actually showed how ideology was overpowered by money. Since the declaration of the assembly polls, there has always been uncertainty in the state as the results threw a hung house where no party in its own strength was able to form the government. The present BJP government led by Yediyurappa too is not immune to vulnerability. The reason is the issue of trust. Is there any guarantee that the Congress and JD(S) MLAs who resigned from their parties to join the BJP in the future will not be going back to their original parties? Obviously, there is no such guarantee.

The coalition government was bound to fall one day because of its timeserving nature and it happened too. A section blame only the BJP for luring the MLAs through money bags. However, what they forgot is that in the present assembly, 97% of MLAs are crorepatis. The average asset of all the MLAs stand at around 35.5 crores. So, it means mostly all the MLAs irrespective of any particular party are rich. Actually, in Karnataka every party has its own moneybags.

BJP overpowered in the state mainly because of its stunning victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The MLAs belonging to the ruling alliance stepped down as a result of feeling own political insecurity in the state arising after the Lok Sabha elections. But the question is — Why the BJP, which campaigned on Congress mukt Bharat, is embracing the Congress MLAs along with the JD(S) MLAs in the state despite being currently favourable? Party’s central leadership should have rather pressurised the state leadership, particularly Yediyurappa, to go for fresh elections instead of forming the government relying on the support of the resigned MLAs.

Now there would be by-polls for the vacated seats. Instead of that, party should have given the opportunity to the electorate of the state to choose a new assembly as the events that happened in the last one year actually reduced the sanctity of the current assembly. The resort politics witnessed in the last one year multiple times actually showed how the parties don’t even trust their own MLAs. Clearly, it shows how ideology has lapsed with political opportunism taking precedence. Truth is the current Karnataka assembly has actually failed to perform the duty it was assigned. The fresh elections would have given the electorate the chance to replace the present assembly with a fresh one.

Lastly, BJP, which claims itself as “a party with a difference”, should have gone for fresh elections when the current situation is favourable for the party instead of forming a government in the state aided by opportunistic MLAs. The way it formed the government in the state will remain as a blot — which will continue to hunt the party’s often portrayed “clean image”, that it is not consumed by the addiction of power unlike other parties — particularly Congress. Actually, the saffron party had the golden opportunity to prove that it is different from the Congress party but the party missed this opportunity in Karnataka. (IPA Service)