Coalition Of Compulsion

At the end of a long week in politics, you couldn바카라�t miss some patterns바카라�none of the three times BJP leader B.S. Yeddyura­ppa became chief minister of Karnataka had been a cakewalk for him. So it has been with his nemesis too, H.D. Kuma­raswamy who is now the state바카라�s new ruler. And, after the ­seven-day poli­tical scramble in the wake of a split poll verdict in the state came a star-studded swearing-­in ceremony that is raising opposition hopes for the big Lok Sabha battle next summer.

Not since 1988, when various Janata Parivar leaders came toge­ther to form the Janata Dal has there been a similar plank in Bangalore, says a senior Congressman. Nor is the timing any less significant: the Modi government steps into its fifth year this week. The political heft at Kumaraswamy바카라�s inauguration바카라�Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Sha­rad Pawar, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Sitaram Yechury, Pinarayi Vijayan, Arvind Kejriwal, Ajit Singh바카라�was obvious enough. Yet, like 30 years ago, when Janata leaders grouped together against the then ruling Rajiv Gandhi regime at the Centre, will the anti-BJP rapport being fostered now have a definite bearing on the general elections next year?

바카라�It gives a message that we can fight (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah,바카라� says the Congress leader. It바카라�s too early to make calculations, though, according to others. 바카라�There are parties with different views here,바카라� says a Janata Dal (Secular) leader. 바카라�The Marxists have come to the swearing-in, so has Mamata. But they have to fight themselves in West Bengal. The Congress and CPI(M) too have to fight. But you could say these people are well-wishers of the Congress and JD(S).바카라�

Notes Kumaraswamy, 바카라�In 2019, there will be a major change in the country바카라�s political situation. That바카라�s why they assembled here.바카라� Shah, meanwhile, brushes aside the suggestion of an oppo­sition gathbandhan. 바카라�All these people were anyway fighting us in 2014 in their own states. There바카라�s nothing new about it,바카라� he told reporters at a press conference earlier in the week.

Even so, as the Karnataka election outcome provided the stage for regional leaders to come together, the imm­ediate question many were asking was a bit more local: will the JD(S)-Congress in Karnataka be a lasting relationship?

The JD(S), with 37 seats (including a Bahujan Samaj Party MLA), is in the driver바카라�s seat, unlike its previous coalition government with the Congress in 2006. Still, the Congress바카라�as the larger party with 78 MLAs바카라�will get more ministerial berths (22 as against the JD-S 12). Besides, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara is deputy CM바카라�he바카라�s the first Dalit leader to be appointed to the post바카라�and so is the Speaker a Congressman. Of course, over the last week, the two parties displayed unusual camaraderie as they jointly fought the BJP which was making a desperate bid to wrest power despite not having enough numbers.

Here바카라�s a recap of the high drama: Yeddyurappa took oath as Karna­taka CM on May 17 just hours after a Supreme Court bench sat through the night hearing the JD(S)-Congress petition challenging the Governor바카라�s deci­sion to invite 75-year-old Yeddyurappa to form government and a 바카라�generous바카라� offer of 15 days바카라� time to prove he had the majority. Together, they had 117 MLAs, comfortably over the halfway mark of 111 while the BJP had only 104. But on May 18, the Supreme Court cut short the 15-day interval and gave Yeddyurappa 24 hours for a trust vote. That, after a nail-biting assembly session the next day, never happened. Yeddyurappa, for the second time in his career, resigned as CM because his saffron party didn바카라�t have the numbers.

The episodes accompanying all this were perhaps even more scandalous than Karnataka바카라�s previous political thrillers. The Congress, even as it das­hed its legislators from Bangalore to Hyderabad in buses to prevent defection, released audio recordings of BJP leaders allegedly making offers to some of its MLAs on phone, charges which the BJP has denied. 바카라�If they disprove it, I will not be in public life for a minute. That challenge I have given to them (BJP),바카라� says V.S. Ugrappa, the Congress spokesman who had released the recordings just ahead of the trust vote on Saturday. Even then, matters only fell into place when two 바카라�missing바카라� legislators, Anand Singh and Pratapgouda Patil바카라�they were rumoured to be in Delhi바카라�appeared at Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, effectively ending the game.

The image that stood out, after Yedd­yurappa resigned without taking the vote of confidence was of Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy (both Vokkaligas, whose rivalry goes back a couple of decades) clasping hands in victory. Shivakumar, who last year famously helped party senior Ahmed Patel win his Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat by 바카라�protecting바카라� party MLAs, is the Congress바카라� main troubleshooter and among Karnataka바카라�s richest legislators.

바카라�What is the Congress celebrating? They have found a new way to create victory out of defeat,바카라� said Shah at his press conference, calling the coalition an 바카라�unh­oly alliance바카라�. Karnataka BJP leaders kept away from Kumaraswamy바카라�s swearing-in ceremony, and BSY said the government won바카라�t last three months.

There바카라�s little doubt the new government will face tricky situations바카라�beginning with the elections to two constituencies in Bangalore city, where polls had been postponed. Then, the effect the union will have on grassroots workers of both parties who are fierce rivals in many southern Karnataka districts. 바카라�There isn바카라�t much of an option for the workers,바카라� admits a Congress leader.

Back in 2004, when there was a hung assembly, the two parties had formed a coalition government with the late Dharam Singh (Congress) as CM and Siddaramaiah as his JD(S) deputy but it lasted only 20 months because Kumara­swamy pulled away to form government with the BJP. He now wants to erase that chapter. 바카라�We will prove that a coalition can work well,바카라� Kumaraswamy told repo­rters at his May 23 press meet after taking charge as the CM. 바카라�Don바카라�t worry about this government바카라�s stability. There will be issues but we will solve them,바카라� he said. The new CM바카라�s priority is the poll-time promise of a farm loan-waiver for which a blueprint, he says, is ready.

바카라�The challenges are plenty. It is not a smooth-sailing affair, both parties know that,바카라� veteran JD(S) leader P.G.R. Sindhia tells Outlook. 바카라�But sometimes necessity becomes the mother of invention. This is the necessity of the time,바카라� he says.

By Ajay Sukumaran in Bangalore