Karnataka: Lessons for all as history made

Other than in BJP-RSS circles, the defeat of the bid made by the saffron party to snatch power in Karnataka through the use of dubious means, including subverting the position of governor, has been widely welcomed across the country. Leading lights from the non-BJP political spectrum had expressed solidarity with the Congress-JD(S) combine before the floor test due on Saturday afternoon, and spoke out ecstatically when chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, the BJP leader who had been given the nod to form government and prove his majority in the Assembly by governor Vajubhai Vala three days earlier, withdrew the confidence motion on the floor of the Assembly — an acknowledgment that the BJP’s desperate efforts to make Opposition MLAs defect had not borne fruit.

The failure of the BJP’s suspect methods to put together a majority in Karnataka — and produce a “win”, as its president Amit Shah had darkly predicted in a speech at the end of polling to elect the Assembly — is imbued with historical significance.

It has come at a time when regional “secular” parties are working on calibrating their relationship with the Congress, with which they have engaged in sharp contests on a range of issues, including on the question of leadership of a proposed anti-BJP nationwide front in the context of the next Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing the media in New Delhi after the failure of Mr Yeddyurappa’s bid, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly, calling him “corruption (itself)” — alluding to the methods used to lure MLAs to support the BJP’s unholy efforts to climb into power — anyhow. He confirmed when responding to questions that his party will associate with other non-BJP parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

A gruelling campaign to attain power in Karnataka has come to an end. Before long it is expected that the Congress-JD(S) post-poll coalition will now be invited by the governor to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly. JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy will become chief minister, in terms of the understanding reached with the Congress.

In the flush of victory, it will be in the fitness of things if the Congress places it on record that it would like to keep away from government since it didn’t win enough seats to return to power, although it recorded a higher percentage of votes in the election than any other party.

The Janata Dal (Secular), the smaller party of the coalition, would doubtless feel more assured about the stability of the government if the Congress could be pulled into the government. But it is necessary to underline a point of principle, specially at the present juncture when principles were sought to be bypassed or twisted by those in authority.