Janarajkarana Column: There is no end to the internal strife within the parties

The major political parties in Karnataka are facing serious internal conflicts. This is the result of political competition that leaders face within their own party. Personal political revenge, exploiting opportunities for their own benefit, personal gain…. all these generally have a bad effect on party unity . All these are becoming a curse for all the major parties in Karnataka.

Let’s look at the state of Congress. Because the party high command is not speaking out, there is increasing dissent in the state units, and differences are being expressed openly. The Congress in Karnataka is no exception to this.

After the formation of the government in the state, everyone’s attention was on ministerial posts and portfolios. Thus, the party’s work took a lower place in the priority list. Due to the large number of people eyeing ministerial posts, discontent, grumbling and factionalism were natural in the party. The Lok Sabha elections were held in the same year of the formation of the government in the state, which provided a good reason for the different groups to put aside their differences and appeal for the party to face the elections together. Although the results of the Lok Sabha elections were not as expected for the Congress in the state, they were not as bad as in 2019. However, mutual accusations started.

There were calls for ministers who were not performing well to make way for new ones. On the other hand, there were demands for more deputy chief ministers and for someone else to take over the KPCC presidency. Those who made all these demands were speaking on behalf of their leader. They were all speaking sharply, hoping that they would gain some political advantage by attacking their leader’s opponents.

Two interrelated developments have emerged in recent days. First, there was a deal that when the Congress-led government was formed in the state, there would be a change of government head mid-term (or according to some, after the Lok Sabha elections), and the Deputy Chief Minister would become the Chief Minister. There was a heated battle between senior leaders supporting the Chief Minister and senior leaders supporting the Deputy Chief Minister. Meanwhile, governance did not get priority.

A related discussion is about the caste census. The report of the previous caste census conducted during the Congress-led government was kept in cold storage for a decade. The Chief Minister brought it to the forefront from two perspectives. First, it was an issue that was dear to party leader Rahul Gandhi. In line with the party’s stance on social justice, the Chief Minister brought it back to the centre of the discussion. Second, the report seems to emphasize the empowerment of non-dominant communities in the OBC communities, the Scheduled Castes and Muslims. This complements the stance of the Chief Minister, who has portrayed himself as an 'Ahinda' leader. The report provides an opportunity to try to defuse the many controversies that have surrounded him.

If we examine the publicly available data on the caste census, it seems that the caste census has underestimated the number of two major influential communities in the state – Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Since 1957, the number of MLAs from these two communities has been higher than the number of MLAs from other communities in the state. In the current assembly too, the number of MLAs belonging to these two communities is higher than the number of MLAs from other communities. This is true for all three major political parties.

The Chief Minister’s attempt to bring the caste census report for discussion in the cabinet immediately drew a backlash from influential caste MLAs. They questioned the figures cited in the caste census report, raised questions about how accurately the survey was conducted, and highlighted the fact that a decade had passed since the survey was conducted. In the process, the divisions in the party have been exposed once again.

The BJP in Karnataka has its own problems. Some people, who do not even bother to look party leader B.S. Yediyurappa’s supporters in the eye, are speaking in different voices. Even in the assembly, the BJP did not seem to speak with a united voice, factionalism was evident. The move to expel MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal from the party came very late, and by the time he was expelled, the party had already suffered a lot.

The internal infighting within the BJP has fueled the power to challenge the government. The BJP leadership seems to be more focused on national issues than on resolving issues at the state level.

The JDS party is enjoying its role in the central government. But the party has had to pay a price for this. That is, the party has been ignored at the state level, the number of party supporters has decreased. It cannot be said that the BJP-JDS alliance will continue even as the next assembly elections approach. Many feel that the JDS leadership is not doing enough to preserve the party’s identity.

All three major parties in the state are facing instability. But the reasons for this are different for each party. Since there are no immediate elections, no one is paying much attention to the party organization. If attention should be paid to the organization, perhaps another election is needed…