Scramble to Meet the Deadline

Looking for greener pastures, MLAs move to rival parties as Karnataka gets set for Assembly polls

Karnataka is scheduled for an Assembly election in April or May. And as polls approach, the state’s BJP government is feeling the heat. Many of its MLAs are looking out for greener pastures. And they have many options. A buoyant Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), led by former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, has reduced the government to minority status. And a combative Congress is giving the BJP a taste of its own medicine by poaching MLAs.

If Yeddyurappa’s fledgling party swayed 14 MLAs, the Congress got three of them and admits that discussions are on with 18 more. Former actor and minister CP Yogeshwar, and two others, have quit the BJP and joined the Congress.

Out of power for eight years now, the Congress admits that it is in ‘deep discussions’ with MLAs of the Janata Dal Secular (JD-S), BJP and independents, but it also says that the final call will be taken after consulting its local cadre. “We are looking at various factors. Apart from their winnability, we are also looking at their equation with grassroot-level workers as we do not want to bring in outsiders and lose,” says a senior leader.

The Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath was in Bangalore on 3 March to review election preparedness. He says that the state is ready for Assembly polls in April or May.

While the state may be ready, the CEC’s job is not going to be easy. In the past five years, almost every election in Karnataka has been plagued with abuses of money power—for activities such as enticing voters. Curbing this malpractice will not be easy. “A single-phase poll would be good to keep a tab on this unhealthy trend… all political parties have agreed with me that a single-phase poll would be best,” the CEC says.

With the Election Commission virtually announcing the poll schedule, anxious MLAs have started approaching rival parties. A significant political churn can be expected in the state.

To add to all this excitement, a Karnataka urban local body (ULB) election was conducted in the state on 7 March, on the orders of the Supreme Court. The ULB election is important because 30 per cent of the state’s electorate votes in it, andhas been held just about a few weeks before the Assembly election. While all the parties are now doing their best to put on a good show, just a month ago they had joined hands to subvert the ULB election. They did not want it to be held so close to the Assembly polls, and even passed a legislation that required the State Election Commission to take the government’s permission before conducting it. However, Governor HR Bhardwaj did not give his assent, leading to a petition in the Supreme Court and its subsequent quashing.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President S Parameshwara says that the Congress will win a ULB majority, and also capture power in the Assembly. But his confidence seems misplaced as the state unit is facing a severe leadership crisis. The KPCC President is not acceptable to all and neither is its working president Siddaramaiah. In fact, the old guard suspects that Siddaramaiah, who left the JD-S in 2006 and moved to the Congress, still owes allegiance to his former party. Commenting on the high-drama and confusion in the KPCC, a Youth Congress leader recently quipped, “Our party has no shepherd,” referring to the high command’s reluctance to name a prospective chief minister.

The BJP came to power in the state after its alliance with the JD-S failed. An emotional Yeddyurappa then made an election issue out of the JD-S’s betrayal of the powersharing agreement, and went on to become Chief Minister. But he got very little time for governance. In the three years that he was CM, Yeddyurappa was mostly busy fighting off rebels within the party, and Governor HR Bhardwaj outside. His fight with the party continued even after resigning as CM. And now he is ready to fight under the KJP banner.

An embattled BJP, faced with desertions, currently has two deputy CMs. The party is also busy announcing new schemes, incentives and investments before the Model Code of Conduct for Elections kicks in. It has also made budgetary allocations to various religious muths in the state, in an attempt to win the favour of their followers. “The state has not seen so much development and funds being released for projects in several decades,” says R Ashok, one of the deputy chief ministers. But,voters may not buy such arguments. This could be bad news for the state’s ruling party.

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Anil Budur Lulla