KARNATAKA: Enough is enough
Tuesday, 11th December, 2007
KARNATAKA: Enough is enough
Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s submission of resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur even before the State Assembly took up the motion of confidence does not come as a surprise. The fate of the seven-day-old BJP government was sealed after the Janata Dal (Secular) leadership issued a whip to its members to vote against the motion. Ever since the JD (S) decided not to transfer power to the BJP in tune with the power-sharing agreement on October 2, the alliance between the two allies had gone for a full toss. The former Prime Minister and the JD (S) supremo, Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda has been the root cause of the trouble. He was trying for his son, Mr. Kumaraswamy’s continuance as the Chief Minister even beyond his 20-month tenure. And when the BJP refused, he demolished the alliance. The state came under President’s rule. However, fears of a vertical split in his party forced Mr. Deve Gowda to review his stand.
The brief JD(S)-BJP re-marriage after the separation was not a smooth affair. After considerable delay, President’s rule was revoked on November 8 and the Governor appointed Mr. Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister. However, Mr. Deve Gowda’s demand for a 12-point MoU to be signed by the BJP in exchange for his party’s support to the government proved to be the last straw. The BJP was in no mood to sign on the dotted line. Had it done so, that too, on "stamp paper", Mr. Yeddyurappa would have become a dummy, with Mr. Kumaraswamy calling the shots as a super Chief Minister.
Mr. Yeddyurappa’s defeat is bound to show the BJP top brass in poor light. Instead of sticking to their earlier stand for the dissolution of the State Assembly and fresh elections, the BJP leaders were no less opportunistic and fell a prey to Mr. Deve Gowda’s machinations.
Given their infamous track record (remember how the Gowdas ditched the Congress-led Dharam Singh government earlier?), how could the BJP trust Mr. Deve Gowda and take Mr. Kumaraswamy’s word of support for granted? This is a blunder the BJP should have avoided. Mr. Deve Gowda’s only aim has been to perpetuate his family rule in Karnataka. Fresh election alone can rescue the state from its present political- uncertainty and the sooner it is held the better.
With Karnataka having come under President’s rule for the second tune in less than one and a half months, there is a clear case for fresh elections in the southern state. There is no point in trying to form a coalition government again if the situation is such that it cannot last even for a few days.
It would be in the interest of the state to ignore senior JD(S) leader M. P. Prakash’s latest claim that at least 35 MLAs belonging to his 57-member party were ready to Support the Congress if it initiates a government-forming drive in Bangalore. A marriage of convenience with the Congress is not a new idea. It was thrown up earlier too, but without success. The JD(S) of former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda ditched the Congress in the midst of the talks and agreed to form a government with the BJP. The Congress will burn its fingers as has the BJP.
No new experiment is possible under the circumstances. What came to be described as the first BJP-led ministry in the South had to go even before it faced the confidence vote on the floor of the Assembly? Mr. Deve Gowda’s party came up with a 12-point MOD to be signed between the two partners, but it was on not acceptable to the BJP. The saffron party wanted the JD(S) to support its government in the manner it did after the two came together in January last year as part of a 20-20 power-sharing formula. This was rejected by the JD(S) and the result is the dead lock in the Assembly.
Karnataka, one of the country’s leading states, has been suffering to since October when the H. D. Kumaraswamy-led JD(S) ministry could not be replaced by a BJP-led government as could be expected in view of the 20-20 formula. The BJP had to suffer for pinpricking the JD(S). The state came under Central rule on October 9, but efforts for political rapprochement led to the formation of the B.S. Yeddyurappa ministry on November 12. It, however, resigned on November 20 without getting a chance to govern. The truth is that all parties have played their role in muddying Karnataka politics. Enough is enough. There seems to be no alternative to dissolving the Assembly and going in for fresh elections to let the people throw out the junk and the fickle.
