Is the Congress playing big brother to its coalition partner Janata Dal(S) in Karnataka? In a sudden turn of events on December 11, JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti lost the race for the chairman's post to the legislative council after the Congress walked back on its promise to support the JD(S) candidate. The Congress chose to not just field its own candidate, but kept its coalition partners and a majority of its own legislators in the dark.
Soon after stepping down as the pro-tem chairman of the legislative council, Horatti, who had also been kept away from the state cabinet, expressed his annoyance at his party playing the underdog. "I want to tell my leader and Chief Minister Kumaraswamy not to end up as a mere rubber stamp of the Congress. My party asked me to file the nomination but after we realised that the Congress was fielding its candidate, we backed out to save the coalition from embarrassment,” Horatti said.
A majority of JD(S) leaders feel that the Congress, which had extended unconditional support is gradually demanding its pound of flesh, to assert they are the bigger ally with 80 MLAs. This dominance will create tension between the allies, they fear. But none of the JD(S) members are voicing their concerns openly to party leadership.
“The Congress drove a hard bargain for the portfolios during the cabinet formation. They had then demanded the speaker's post while agreeing to give the chairman's post to the JD(S). But now, they have unilaterally decided to stake claim to the council top post. Can you run a coalition without rules?” asks Horatti, who feels let down by the party.
The nomination of Horatti to the council chief's post was meant to appease the Lingayat community to which he belongs, and to give importance to the north Karnataka region as the JD(S) is seen as a south Karnataka party. The Congress's earlier choice, too, had similar caste and regional considerations when they mooted the name of S.R. Patil, a confidante of the former CM Siddaramaiah.
But the fielding of surprise candidate K. Prathap Chandra Shetty, a close aide of Home Minister G. Parameshwar and MP Oscar Fernandes, has exposed the growing factionalism within the Congress.
It is a game of one-upmanship that threatens the unity within the Congress and the coalition too. Bonding of Kumaraswamy and senior Congressman D.K. Shivakumar over Vokkaliga is also causing heartburn among the Congress leaders and cadres.
“Our cadres are unwilling to accept this alliance especially in Mandya, Ramanagara and Hassan. The alliance will prove detrimental to the party's survival in the long run,” warns a senior Congress leader, who is also wary of JD(S)'s fixation for astrology.
“The Gowda family is keen on adhering to auspicious time for work—be it meetings, events, travel, cabinet expansion or legislature session. The Congress have to simply follow them,” laments a senior leader.
The Congress's re-emergence from the political abyss at the national level after its feat in the five-state polls might have given a boost to the grand alliance plans of a united opposition ahead of the 2019 Parliament polls. But the development is bound to rock the coalition ship further, fear JD(S) leaders.
Meanwhile, the disgruntled Congress MLAs have been lobbying hard for cabinet expansion on December 22, which now seems unlikely as the party, energised by its victory in Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, is not inclined to fill up six cabinet vacancies. “No Congress MLA will cross over to the BJP, especially after its defeat in the five states,” laughs a Congress insider.