THE MAN FOR ALL REASONS
THE RULING PARTY RETAINS FAITH IN SIDDARAMAIAH FOR THE 2018 POLLS. CAN HE LIVE UP TO IT?
Afamiliar grouse against the Congress high command (read Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul) is that it is reluctant to name a chief ministerial candidate in a poll-bound state, even if such a decision were to its benefit. But after being reduced to a rump of a party, they seem to have learnt the lesson.
So with nine months to go for the Karnataka assembly elections in early 2018, the all-powerful All India Congress Committee announced that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would lead the election campaign, ensuring that there was no ambiguity on that score. This was a recognition of the fact that he had performed sufficiently well as CM and remained the party’s best bet to retain power in this crucial state.
Keeping in mind the caste equations, the AICC also decided that Dr G. Parameswara, a Dalit leader, would remain state Congress
president but would resign from his ministerial post and concentrate on the election campaign. Then, in a move to keep the two dominant caste groupings in the state, the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas, happy, S.R. Patil was appointed working president and D.K. Shivakumar chairman of the campaign committee. To woo the forward communities, including Brahmins, Dinesh Gundu Rao, son of late chief minister Gundu Rao, was also appointed working president. By ensuring that all the top leaders were given a major role in the campaign, the party hopes to stem infighting and keep the flock united.
All these appointments were done soon after the BJP announced that the controversial B.S. Yeddyurappa, a former chief minister, would lead the party’s campaign. For Siddaramaiah, the Congress decision to go with him as the chief ministerial face, comes as a big boost. The normally reticent chief minister hasn’t wasted any time going into pre-election mode. Recently, he appeared on a popular TV chat show hosted by well-known south Indian actor-director Ramesh Aravind and spent six hours answering a range of questions from the anchor and viewers.
It will, however, be a daunting task for Siddaramaiah to ensure that the Congress wins a majority again in the 225-seat Karnataka assembly (in 2013, the party had won 122 seats). The BJP’s Yeddyurappa may have some skeletons in his closet, but he is still a popular leader. BSY is spearheading the party’s campaign and raking up all kind of issues to discredit the chief minister and the Congress. The coastal Karnataka region, a BJP stronghold, was on the boil last week, after unknown assailants stabbed an RSS functionary to death. The BJP seized the opportunity to charge Siddaramaiah of deliberate neglect. In the last year, there have been sporadic incidents of attacks by self-proclaimed ‘gau rakshaks’, even as the BJP alleges that members of the Sangh parivar are being targeted. With allegations and counter-allegations becoming the order of the day, the BJP is clearly raising its pitch.
So far, though, Siddaramaiah has been up to the challenge. In April, the party won the bypolls in Nanjangud and Gundlupet, trouncing the BJP. Both these constituencies had sizeable Lingayat votes, but they didn’t seem to be backing Yeddyurappa, their most prominent leader. The latter’s inability to secure victory for the party clearly has the BJP worried. The infighting in the party is now more pronounced than the dissidence in the Congress. BSY has a running battle with best friendturned-bete noire K.S. Eshwarappa, another big BJP leader in the state.
For now, Yeddyurappa looks unfazed by the byelection result. He let loose a barrage of charges, including the accusation that the chief minister has placed the state’s farming community in dire straits. But Siddaramaiah got one up on him by announcing a waiver of Rs 8,615 crore in loans taken by marginal farmers from cooperative banks. The chief minister then challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to complement his efforts by waiving loans by farmers from rural and nationalised banks. With the Centre refusing to play ball, Yeddyurappa finds himself on the back foot.
When the Congress came to power in 2013, there were several factors working in Siddaramaiah’s favour. The preceding BJP-ruled government had been marred by mediocre performance and
Critics may differ but the CM says he has fulfilled 90% of the promises in the Congress poll manifesto
a rash of scams (the party had to change chief ministers thrice). Siddaramaiah also upped the ante by declaring a war against corruption, especially on the Bellary mining barons groomed by the BJP. The Lokayukta report on the mining scam—which indicted the BJP—also came in handy for the CM. Siddaramaiah then focused on boosting irrigation and power availability and on a host of schemes for the poor, the backward classes and the farmers (see box: Report Card). Also, there have been no major charges of corruption against his government so far.
Although Siddaramaiah claims he has met “90 per cent of the promises made in the Congress election manifesto”, critics say he hasn’t delivered in some critical areas. They point out that he hasn’t come down strongly on those indicted by the Lokayukta report on the mining scam, preferring instead to institute multiple inquiries that are still going on. Also, while his government may have spent over Rs 50,000 crore on irrigation projects, farmers’ distress has only increased resulting in over 2,500 suicides during his tenure (the CM puts the blame on the back-to-back droughts that the state experienced).
The other major charge against Siddaramaiah is that he is focused on appeasing the backward classes and minorities to the point of neglecting other communities. The social welfare department alone has spent over Rs 80,000 crore, with another Rs 20,000 crore-plus allocated for various programmes to these sections. Denying any bias, Siddaramaiah says, “Does it mean that members of other communities have not enjoyed the benefits of our rural development programmes? I know that all communities are happy” (see interview: ‘The vulnerable sections...’).
Siddaramaiah has also shown that he is a savvy politician. During the Cauvery river water-sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu, he enlisted the support of his political guruturned-foe, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who heads the Janata Dal (Secular). Siddaramaiah, who was a JD(S) member till he joined the Congress in 2006, still shares a personal rapport with Gowda’s sons H.D. Revanna and H.D. Kumaraswamy. There is even some speculation that the Congress may enter into a pre-poll alliance with the JD(S), though both parties deny it. Siddaramaiah seems confident of coming back to power on his own. “The BJP leaders are day-dreaming if they think they will capture power in Karnataka. It will never become a reality. We will return to power with full majority,” he says. Whether his confidence is justified will be known when the state goes to polls less than a year from now.