Even as battle lines are being drawn for the Lok Sabha polls, Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who leads a Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government, has a word of caution for potential allies of the mahagathbandhan—the BJP is trying to make coalition governments appear unstable. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, he says the way forward for the opposition is to stay united and send out a strong message that a mahagathbandhan is good for the country.
Excerpts:
Opposition unity seems to be waning with parties like the Trinamool Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party deciding against an alliance with the Congress.
Regional parties have political compulsions, be it in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha or Tamil Nadu. The Congress was our arch rival. But we came together to form a coalition government in Karnataka. For any alliance to click, the partners need to be ready for big sacrifices. What is common to all regional parties is that they are all opposed to the Centre. But there can be no common strategy in each state. It has to be state-specific. My appeal to party leaders is to take the grassroots workers into confidence. Often, the alliance might be acceptable to top leaders, but not the cadres. With maturity, we can work together for better outcomes.
In this Lok Sabha polls, is it the BJP versus the rest or the BJP versus regional parties? There are many PM aspirants among the opposition parties.
It appears to be the BJP versus regional parties. All the alliance partners are on talking terms. If a party has chosen to go it alone, it is based on its political calculations. Post elections, if no party manages to get a majority, the opposition parties will arrive at a consensus. It remains to be seen whether the parties will back Rahul Gandhi or if it is going to be the other way round. My party has already clarified that if Rahul leads the coalition, we will readily support him. If the Congress gets more seats than all other parties, we will have no issues with Rahul leading the coalition.
What are the major issues this time?
The national leaders and parties might rake up issues like Rafale, national security or unemployment. But my party will only focus on regional issues. I will speak about the development work carried out by our coalition. I don’t need to make personal attacks as I have done enough work in the past ten months to showcase to the people. Unlike us, the Congress has a strong base in Karnataka. We have only limited cadres. So, our campaign styles will be different. The people are disillusioned with the BJP as it has delivered little on the 2014 election promises. Moreover, the BJP’s publicity campaign has reached a saturation point.
What is the way forward for the mahagathbandhan?
The focus of the alliance partners should not be to grab power, but to bring out an acceptable common minimum programme. My father (former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda) emphasises on a common minimum programme to take the alliance forward. It should address critical issues facing the country and offer solutions.
Is a single-party government more stable, as being projected by the BJP?
I agree that a stable government is necessary for development. But it is wrong to say that coalitions make for unstable governments. It is wrong to assume only Modi can give a stable government. P.V. Narasimha Rao ran a coalition government for five years. The beauty of democracy is enhanced by the coalition governments as several leaders come together to make policy and programmes. This makes democracy meaningful. Else, it ends up as a dictatorship.
Did seat sharing with the Congress pose a challenge?
Internal bickering is common in a coalition. We were careful not to make seat sharing a prestige issue. We did not demand the seats currently held by the Congress, although those are the same seats where we are strong, too. Instead, we settled for seats where the BJP has an upper hand.
There is a feeling that only your party will gain from the alliance as the chances of the JD(S) transferring the votes to the Congress seem remote.
It is a wrong perception. For instance, there are a lot of differences among Congress leaders in both Kolar and Chikballapur and there is confusion among party workers. The alliance with the JD(S) will help the Congress overcome such challenges. We had bagged four lakh votes in Chikballapur and five lakh in Kolar, which will get transferred to the Congress candidate. The non-BJP votes will not get divided now.
The entry of your nephew Prajwal and your son, Nikhil, into electoral politics has drawn widespread criticism.
The Deve Gowda family is no stranger to such criticism as people had found fault with us when Revanna (Kumaraswamy’s brother) and I stood for elections the first time. If family politics is the question, I can name at least 30 examples from Karnataka alone, where family members are in politics. At the national level, you can see Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar and many BJP leaders. Today, the debate over family politics is meaningless. Most regional parties survive on the strength of the families that run them. In Karnataka, our party has survived because of the contribution of the Deve Gowda family. If our family members become weak, the party will grow weak, too. The family is inevitable for the growth of the party.
Veteran actor Sumalatha, wife of the late former MP Ambareesh, is contesting from Mandya against Nikhil.
The crisis in Mandya has been created by a few people and it will die down on its own. It is a well-planned conspiracy to target our family. The Sumalatha issue has flared up so much that we cannot back out now, as they will run another misinformation campaign saying we cowed down. Sumalatha did not approach us for a ticket. But I did offer her an MLC ticket sometime back as I have great regard for the late Ambareesh. But I realised that she has bigger plans and ambitions. There are many big powers behind her.