“In permanent strife” perhaps best describes the five-year record of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka. With no more than three and a half months for the term of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly to end, the government has run into yet another stretch of political rapids. Fourteen legislators, including two ministers, resigned from the House and the BJP to join the Karnataka Janata Party headed by the former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa. The ‘party with a difference’ — which is how the BJP liked to present itself in less fractious times — is today a ‘party with many differences.’ Over the last five years there have been 10 occasions when serious factional infighting broke out in the BJP, bringing the government to the brink. The latest round of discord brings the ruling party uncomfortably close to losing its majority in the Assembly. In a House whose strength has come down from 225 to 210, the BJP now has only 106 members (including an Independent). Facing the slog overs in a limited overs game, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar hopes to use the budget on February 8 as his final sixer.
In hindsight, it is clear that the BJP’s inherent instability stemmed from the artificial majority it enjoyed in the House (through the support of five Independents), and, more importantly, the tactics it employed to retain and expand its slender majority. Crafted by Mr. Yeddyurappa in the good old days when he was helmsman of the BJP in the State, the plan, code-named “Operation Lotus,” involved persuading willing Opposition MLAs to quit, win the by-elections on a BJP ticket, and then join the ministry. Party old-timers allied to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh never reconciled themselves to the brash new entrants who quickly established their dominance. This group remains Mr. Yeddyurappa’s support base in the KJP. As and when Assembly elections are held, the BJP will go to the electorate carrying a sorry report card. Its government presided over monumental scandals that included a vast illegal iron-ore mining operation in Bellary and several land-grab cases involving prominent BJP leaders. Law and order has also been a problem, especially in regions where sangh parivar activists have sought to flex their muscles. So focussed was the party on its own survival strategies that several of its poll promises, most notably that of re-working the poverty line and ensuring rice at Rs. 2 per kg to the poor, were forgotten. Having done little to counter the effects of an unprecedented drought last year, the BJP is likely to make cynical use of the forthcoming budget as a tool of economic populism. Whether this will enable it to retrieve lost ground is another matter.
Wake up! VOTE! Take action when it comes calling!
If this is what the politicians do, the people will never forget. Take CBN's "look Hyd and ignore rest policy" in AP - he got voted out! And now he is on the road like YSR, all the best to him.
Time for a "P Sainath - like" Sunday magazine analysis by The Hindu.
Since independence, every political party has gone down this road of instability, horse trading and patch work governance story. A non-stop occurrence across India. Why don't we accept the reality. It is the system that is at fault. The entire electoral system, the law enforcement system and justice delivery system are all mired in dysfunctional status. Therein lies the cause. Time to call a spade a spade, instead of wringing hands in futility. Instead of blaming the sick patient, look at the cause why the patients are perpetually falling sick.
if you think Karnataka government is at bottom, I wonder where Andhra Pradesh come in? scandals,defections, no and not little governance, multiple leaders, its got everything and more than Karnataka.
The Hindu, whats with your obsession with BJP?
Congress in Karnataka is as bad as BJP.Actually inspite of several
attempts by media and various made up reports people in Karnataka are
not taking congress seriously.Thanks to Hindu for highlighting real
facts and bringing up the problems of people for discussion.BSY might
have quit BJP but he has lost goodwill and will be a big zero.Real
gainer t seems will be JDS which is making silent gains
everywhere.Whatever the election result people wil continue to
suffer.Even AP is travelling in same path of Karnataka by voting for
corrupt elements like Jagan
Lots of politics in Karnataka. Before coming to Bangalore, I used to
think Andhra Pradesh's politics is second to none and i am proved to be
wrong by Karntaka. Government is struggling for its own survival and I
could hardly find any significant achievement by the government in its
regime except corruption cases.
Coalition turned out to be the game changer.
People of Karntaka should try to bring a single party to power so that
atleast politics decreases and development increases.
Ref Gopalakrishnan's comment...it is not just the new entrants into BJP who have caused its moral downfall. The RSS is equally complicit and has continued to degenerate, as we can see in the case of Karnataka and its blind support for the scam-hit Gadkari.
Mr. M V J Rao's observation is perfectly true. Be it the Congress in AP or the BJP in Karnataka, only the players are different; the game (of corruption, loot and plunder) is the same.
The governance is at its nadir in Karnataka as the indiscipline and disunity are at its zenith in the BJP. The BJP is not different from any other party in any respect. Its members are also as honest and corrupt as those belong to other parties. Political propriety and ethics no longer characterise its functioning.
Yeddy of BJP did what exactly was done by YSR of Congress in AP. Luring TDP or TRS members by 'operation Akarsh' and giving freebies in the name of welfare were all tactics of YSR which landed his successors in trouble to find resources to meet his commitments. Congress under YSR has now become notorious for Emmar, Brahmani, OMC and other scandals. Congress or BJP are one in this and there is no difference.
In the present circumstances of Indian politics where people join only for their selfish purposes and not for the cardinal principles of " SERVICE, SACRIFICe and PATRIOTISM " essential requirement for change is scrapping the rule of salary, perks etc for politicians and must be paid only alowances during their term. This is one way to reform politicians. It is a pity Anna, Kejriwal etc have not bothered about this.
We live in a cynical world and cynicism has pervaded all the poli-
-tical parties in all its evil forms with contempt for accepted
standard of honesty and morality,eventually exploiting the scruples
of others by the actions of someone.The BJP is not an exception to
what the editorial has `made no bones about`.In the early days,in
the BJP`s hierarchical set of values,honesty came first.Strict
discipline and morality was the prime motto of the BJPthe offshoot
ofsangh Parivars and RSS which were synonymous for strict adherence
to ethical codes of conduct.With changing times,in its liberal transformation,the party admitted brash aspirants into the party
and the new entrants began to behave in swaggering peremptory manners that bothered the parent organisations which exerted influence and exercised power and authority over the BJP.`Lotus
operation` that was adeptly conceived and carried out by Yeddyurappa was the bane of the BJP,tarnishing its image and
credibility.
-formation of the party
Please Email the Editor