A caste war has apparently broken out in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka, even as fault lines within the Congress party and between the coalition partners have began to show.
A day after a pontiff from a Vokkaliga mutt warned leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi against making efforts to "destabilise" the H.D. Kumaraswamy government, a pontiff from the Kuruba community warned AICC chief Rahul Gandhi against "sidelining" former chief minister and Kuruba strongman Siddaramaiah.
On Wednesday, Sri Nanjaavadhoota Swamiji of Sphatikapuri Math in Tumkur praised the Vokkaliga leader from Congress D.K.Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy and urged Modi to support Kumaraswamy's "pro-people" programmes. He also warned of a major backlash from the Vokkaliga community if the coalition is disturbed. The BJP leaders lashed out at the seer and asked the religious leaders to "stay away from politics".
Sensing that the Congress leaders were cosying up to the JD(S) to single out Siddaramaiah, Kuruba seer Sri Niranjananandapuri from Kaginele hit out at Siddaramaiah's detractors, saying, "The Congress party won 80 seats because of Siddaramaiah. I warn Rahul Gandhi that if you sideline Siddaramaiah, you will not even win 15 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Siddaramaiah will not suffer any loss."
"Kumaraswamy is not the CM of only the Vokkaliga community but of the entire state. He will have to take everyone along. Targeting Kuruba officers with transfer-pending posting is not good for the coalition," added the seer.
The face-off was triggered after Siddaramaiah, who is the chairman of the coordination committee, openly opposed Kumaraswamy's plans to table a fresh budget and a total farm loan waiver.
While Siddaramaiah insisted on the coalition government tabling only a supplementary budget while retaining all the popular programmes of the previous Congress regime, Kumaraswamy found himself cornered as both a fresh budget and farm loan waiver are inevitable for the JD(S) politically.
Siddaramaiah, who went on a 12-day retreat for rejuvenation therapy at Dharmasthala, made enough noise to make both the Congress and the JD(S) jittery by holding marathon meetings with his confidantes and MLAs.
A video of Siddaramaiah's conversation with his supporters went viral on social media and created a flutter in political circles. The video footage shows Siddaramaiah expressing doubt over the longevity of the coalition. "Don't know about the five-year term. Looking at the developments, I doubt whether it will last after the Lok Sabha elections," says Siddaramaiah in a private conversation on the video.
An irked Kumaraswamy, who was addressing a meeting of officials, retorted saying he was a "smooth talking" CM and not an "arrogant and rude" one, indirectly referring to Siddaramaiah. Kumaraswamy warned officers to fall in line, stating he was aware of a few who were working against the government.
While the cold war between Siddaramaiah and the Gowda family is no secret, the arch-rivals becoming coalition partners to keep the BJP out of power has put Siddaramaiah in a tight spot.
The polarisation of the Vokkaliga-Kuruba communities had came to a boil in Mysuru during the elections that eventually handed out a humiliating defeat to Siddaramaiah. This time, Siddaramaiah wants to keep his Ahinda vote base secure to wield power within his party and stay relevant in state politics.
Kumaraswamy delaying issue of an order elevating Siddaramaiah's post (chief of coordination committee) to cabinet rank is also a bone of contention as is the denial of cabinet berths to MLAs close to Siddaramaiah.
Siddaramaiah's sour relations with KPCC chief and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara is also a reason for the factionalism in the Congress party.
Even as MLAs started making a beeline to the naturopathy resort in Dharmasthala to meet Siddaramaiah, Parameshwara convened a meeting of all the Congress ministers to keep the flock together as he fears Siddaramaiah, who is also the Congress legislature party leader, is trying to remain a parallel power centre.
According to sources, the KPCC chief has urged ministers to take the MLAs of their districts into confidence to help run the coalition government and work hard for Lok Sabha elections. The party might try to chip out MLAs from the Siddaramaiah camp by luring them with cabinet berths (six posts are vacant) and appointment to boards and corporations.
JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda dismisses the development as "natural" in a coalition. "When I led the 13-party coalition at the Centre, people said it would collapse in one month. But it lasted another 10 months. There is no cause to worry as Rahul Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal will resolve any issues within the Congress," said Deve Gowda.