The Political Turmoil in Karnataka

Source: www.viewspaper.com, Author: Nanda Kishore

The political scenario in Karnataka is dominated by 3 parties: The Indian National Congress, Janata Dal (secular) and The Bharatiya Janata Party.In the 2004 election results, no party held a simple majority in the house. Though the BJP had the most number of seats, the Congress and JD(s) obtained a majority through a coalition. It was headed by the then chief minister Dharam Singh (Congress) and deputy CM Siddaramaiah (JD(s)). This coalition ended in 2006. When the BJP and JD(s) formed a clever coalition, on a power sharing basis, taking over power for 20 months, each. Each party would have its candidate as the CM for the specified duration. The coalition started off with Mr. H.D.Kumaraswamy from JD(s) as the CM with B.S. Yedyurappa of the BJP as the deputy CM.All was well for the first 20 months of the coalition tenure, until time came for the power to be transferred to the BJP. The JD(s) refused to hand over the reins to the BJP, alleging it to be a ‘communal’ party. The JD(s) supremo and ex-PM, Mr.H.D.Devegowda, was quite obviously the person pulling the strings for this power struggle.Meanwhile, President’s rule was imposed.The credibility of the JD(s) started falling by the day. The BJP demanded fresh elections as this was the only way out. Meanwhile, trouble started brewing within the JD(s) camp, as some members were clearly distraught with the selfishness of H.D. Devegowda.This rebel faction led by Mr. Prakash, ex-deputy CM, threatened to leave the JD(s) camp, and enter into the Congress fold. With the BJP hankering around for a new mandate, and its credibility at an all time low, it would have been impossible to gather as many seats as the last time, so the JD(s) resorted to a ‘U’ turn in its stand, and agreed to support the BJP, despite the said allegations.Yeddyurappa was sworn in among much fanfare, with the south receiving its first BJP CM. However, the BJP’s happiness was not to last.The father-son duo of Devegowda and H.D.Kumaraswamy refused to support a floor test for the BJP in the State parliament. And with barely a week having gone by, Yeddyurappa resigned preferring not to face the floor test which would have turned out to be humiliating. It resulted in the imposition of the President’s rule yet again.Fresh elections were speculated to occur before May, but the Congress has objected to it as they feel time is not enough to woo the people who, after the fiasco, have their sympathy towards the BJP. The JD(s) is struggling hard to stage a comeback after being responsible for the mud-slinging and their selfish intentions, but with the Prakash faction, which recently joined the Congress, the JD(s) has received a serious blow.The citizens are hoping for elections to occur soon, but with the Congress and JD(s) trying their best to postpone them, the possibility seems bleak. The BJP, however, riding high on their success after the elections in Uttarakhand and Gujarat, hopes to continue the trend in the south by obtaining a clear cut majority.