Impact of demonetisation on party politics in Karnataka

December 03, 2016 11:51 pm | Updated 11:51 pm IST - Bengaluru:

The demonetisation of high-value currency has no doubt had an impact on all sections of the population, leave alone trade and business, and in Karnataka, this is expected to impact party politics as well.

It is common knowledge that the Bharatiya Janata Party enjoys considerable clout in Bengaluru in particular and the State in general, thanks to the patronage of trade and industry, particularly the informal sector. Added to this is the large number of businessmen hailing from several northern and western States forming part of flourishing businesses here, who have extended considerable support to the BJP over the years.

The demonetisation drive has largely affected this section of people, and it’s obvious that they believe the root cause of all their monetary problems, with the need to account for all their transactions, is thanks to the policy decisions of the BJP government at the Centre. A cross section of the people in this sector, who largely have their business offices in the core areas of Bengaluru, told The Hindu that their businesses have been hard hit and it may take a long time to recover.

The salaried class and in particular the employees of the Information Technology sector, who constitute nearly a fifth of the population of Bengaluru are evidently happy with demonetisation since they believe that the measures being adopted by the Union government will work against the increasing corruption at all levels of the bureaucracy and in politics. Political corruption and bribery demands of the bureaucracy have resulted in a multitude of problems and there is no check at the present juncture, with the Karnataka Lokayukta remaining without a chief and the newly constituted Anti-Corruption Bureau merely remaining a wing of the State government.

Demonetisation has come about at a time when the popularity of the State Congress and in particular that of the Siddaramaiah government is sinking in contrast to the growing influence of the BJP. It is another matter that there is serious intra party differences within the BJP, and efforts are still on to bring about a rapprochement among some of the senior BJP leaders such as K.S. Eshwarappa (Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council), who have raised their voice of dissent against the party president and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. It has also been announced that should the BJP wrest power from the Congress, then Mr. Yeddyurappa will be the obvious choice for the post of Chief Minister.

This apart, there are unconfirmed reports that some of the State BJP leaders were privy to information on demonetisation well ahead of the Prime Minister’s announcement on November 8, resulting in some of them indulging in business takeovers and other activities to provide a makeover to their illegal wealth.

The common people, who are witness to all this accumulation of wealth, believe that demonetisation and other follow-up operations should serve to put an end to such illegalities.

What is now to be seen is the strategy that the State unit of the BJP will adopt to ensure that it does not suffer any hit to its popularity. That the one-day bandh called by the Opposition parties on November 28 did not work to the advantage of the ruling Congress did provide some relief to the BJP in Karnataka.

( The writer is Resident Representative, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Bengaluru )

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