Karnataka has proved again to be an invincible battleground for Bharatiya Janata Party’s strategist Amit Shah.
Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s resignation after just a day in office was inevitable as the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance managed to hold on to its 117 MLAs and is set to form a coalition government.
This will be the second coalition government of the Congress-JD(S) combine, that has made the BJP their common cause yet again after 2004.
First mover advantage
Soon after the fractured mandate came in, arch rivals Congress and JD(S) swiftly stitched up the coalition, leaving no scope for the BJP to even approach the latter.
Two senior Congress leaders — Ashok Gehlot and Ghulam Nabi Azad —not only stationed themselves in Bengaluru since May 14 — a day before the counting — but started talking to the JD(S) even as successive exit polls pointed to a hung Assembly. The common and prime motive was to keep the BJP out of power.
In fact, even in 2004, Mr. Azad had played a key role in the installation of the Congress-JD(S) coalition headed by N. Dharam Singh.
Second round
The man in charge of keeping the Congress-JD(S) flock together, including the `vulnerable' mining baron Anand Singh, was the ‘resourceful’ D.K. Shivakumar, who held the power portfolio in the Siddaramaiah government.
From moving the MLAs to the Eagleton golf resort near Bidadi on the outskirts of Bengaluru to choosing a loyal transport operator to drive the MLAs to Hyderabad, Mr. Shivakumar is believed to have micro-managed the logistics.
For Mr. Shivakumar, this is the second round in his running battle with Mr. Amit Shah. Earlier in August 2017, during the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat, where the fate of Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel hung in balance, Mr. Shivakumar provided the same safe house to nearly 40 Congress MLAs from Gujarat for several days. This had stalled the BJP’s attempts at poaching MLAs and ensured that Mr. Patel retained his seat. Mr. Patel promptly tweeted on Saturday: “Democracy triumphs again. Congratulations to all those who worked hard to save democracy.”
Indeed, politics makes strange bedfellows. To keep a growing BJP out of power, the Congress, which has been repeatedly drubbed in elections across the country, has had no choice but to strike an alliance with rival JD(S) as it did in 2004.
After the recent bitter experience in Goa and other States where the Congress lost to the BJP in the power game, its leaders Mr. Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, G.Parameshwara and D.K. Shivakumar were in constant consultations with JD(S) leaders to checkmate the common enemy.
Backed by his party’s high command, Mr. Shivakumar, a fellow Vokkaliga strongman and once the political arch rival of Mr. Kumaraswamy, played a stellar role in reviving the ties between the two parties and enabling the coalition. Congress leaders rushed to the Raj Bhavan on the day of results and staked claim to form a government led by the JD (S).
The Congress mounted another frontal of attack in the Supreme court and got the time for floor test reduced from 15 days to one, which helped the two allies to prevent defections.
Flashback 2004
In 2004, the JD(S) had secured 58 seats in the Assembly and let the Congress, with 65 seats, take the Chief Minister’s post (N. Dharam Singh), content with the Deputy CM's post — Mr. Siddaramaiah, who was then with the JD(S). Then too, the BJP had bagged the highest number of seats, 78.
Another interesting outcome of all these political developments is the entente between old party colleagues-turned-foes Mr. Siddaramaiah and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda. Relations between the two turned bitter over a decade ago after Mr. Siddaramaiah joined the Congress. On Thursday, the two leaders sank their differences and personal rivalry and came together at a protest venue, something unimaginable even a week back.
