Karnataka trailer

In the theatre of the absurd staged in Karnataka, there are no towering heroes to celebrate. In complete violation of the people’s mandate in the Assembly elections, the Congress bowed before the Janata Dal (Secular) to try and conquer what is left of its political relevance nationally. The JD(S), on its part, seized the chance and is on its way to install HD Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister despite having dropped to the lowest ever vote share since its creation. The BJP’s is a particularly unfortunate case of having lost face and simultaneously missed a chance at seizing power in what could have been the 21st State under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah’s watch. Worse, its image as the ‘party with a difference’ got severely dented by its scam-tainted candidates, allegations of horse trading and the failed ploy to grab power.

But what is disheartening from a moral standpoint is illuminating about the nature and practice of parliamentary democracy in India. The Karnataka saga offers a tantalising glimpse of the already changed political alignments which present the only plausible challenge to the thus far indefatigable duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. That challenge is the nature of alliance formed in Karnataka, where the Congress plays second fiddle to the regional chieftains and is more than willing to cede space to them. This is the first major election under the newly-elected President Rahul Gandhi and he has shown a capacity to think on his feet and challenge Amit Shah at his own game. The listlessness evident in the Congress’s responses when the BJP President snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya, where the single largest party was not invited to form the government, is now a thing of the past. The BJP was caught off guard with the multiple strategies unfolding simultaneously from the AICC headquarters — the offer of support for a government headed by the JD(S) even while the results were still pouring in, the midnight move to the Supreme Court to challenge the Governor’s decision and subsequently, the appointment of the pro-tem Speaker, the constant monitoring and exposes of Yeddyurappa’s bid to poach the newly-formed alliance MLAs et al.

Karnataka has thus set the tone for the general elections next year. At one end of the pole is the towering Modi, his invincible strategist Shah and the well-oiled election machine that the BJP has become in the last four years. At the other end are the provincial strategists and mass leaders — Mamata Banerjee, HD Deve Gowda, N Chandrababu Naidu, K Chandrashekhar Rao, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejaswai Pratap et al — who do not want to cede ground to the BJP. The Congress has sensed that its best chance at crawling back to power in the face of Modi’s charisma is in playing assistant to all the regional giants. This would be an unforgettable year in Indian politics.

COMMENT NOW