People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

The Wages Of Opportunism

THE inevitable had to happen in Karnataka. The rank opportunism shown by the Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP in the state has eventually led to the imposition of President’s rule. Following the last assembly elections, the JD(S) combined with the Congress to form a secular coalition government on the slogan of fighting communalism and keeping the communal forces away from government in Karnataka. The BJP emerged as the single largest party in these elections followed by the Congress and then by the JD(S). The Congress-led government of Dharam Singh was pulled down by the JD(S) twenty months later raising charges of Congress `high-handedness’. At that very moment it was clear that the real reasons lay elsewhere.

The JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda in his eagerness to have his son Kumaraswamy being made the chief minister entered into the most unholy alliance with the very same communal forces against whom in the first instance he had formed the coalition government with the Congress. Even if fresh elections were held at the fall of the earlier coalition government, it was unlikely that Kumaraswamy would be guaranteed the post of the chief minister. It was only under a coalition with the BJP could this have been achieved. And it is precisely this that Deve Gowda -- once made the prime minister by the United Front, supported by the Congress in order to keep the communal combination headed by Vajpayee away from power at the centre -- achieved. Such rank opportunism, even in times of rapidly declining political morality, is unprecedented.

The JD(S) and the BJP entered into an understanding that the remaining 40 months of the tenure of the assembly would be equally shared by both. The first 20 months, according to the arrangement was with Kumaraswamy as the chief minister and BJP’s Yediyurappa as the deputy. The next 20 months was to see a reversal of this arrangement. However, when the deadline arrived, Kumaraswamy refused to step down and following internecine bitterness the BJP withdrew its support. In the event, there was no other possibility except to impose President’s rule and seek a fresh mandate from the people.

It is indeed a matter of some solace that the BJP has not been allowed to assume the reins of the chief ministership, notwithstanding the political `betrayal’ by the JD(S). During the last 20 months Karnataka has been witness to rapid sharpening of communal polarisation unprecedented in its history. The RSS/BJP using the centenary observations of Golwalkar’s birth fomented communal tensions and riots in various parts of the state including Bangalore. Generating a dispute over the centuries old shrine of a sufi saint Baba Budanagiri in Chikamangalur such communal polarisation was intensified across the state. Using its positions in the government, the BJP was systematically working to disturb communal harmony and thus seeking to reap political benefit through sharpened communal polarisation.

Under these circumstances, its assuming the position of the chief minister for the next 20 months would have spelt disaster for the state and its people derailing its preeminent position as the economic accelerator of the country. Given the fact that even in the last minute desperate attempts were being made to cobble together various opportunistic combinations the imposition of President’s rule was the only way to prevent further unscrupulous horse-trading.

Seeking a fresh mandate from the people through an early election to the state assembly is the only course left to safeguard democracy and the democratic rights of the people in Karnataka.