You must break the shackles to pursue your vision, Mr CM

You must break the shackles to pursue your vision, Mr CM
H S Balram
The Times of India

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is caught in a jam. He is s u d d e n ly faced with p ro bl e m s from all c o r n e r s. His supporters are upset that the JD(S) has been reduced to an appa-makkala party (father-sons party). They feel he is ignoring them and dancing to the tune of his father and brothers. Some MLAs who haven’t yet received their pound of flesh, for having lent him their support to form the government, have raised a banner of revolt. Bureaucrats are complaining of interference by his legislators and family members. The mining bribery bomb thrown by BJP man Janardhana Reddy is set to explode any moment. Opposition Congress, having received a boost with the entry of arch Gowda rival Siddaramaiah, is busy digging out documents to prove land-buying spree and amassment of wealth by the Gowda family.

Though Kumaraswamy has the vision, drive, sincerity, age and the will to put the state on the fast track, he is finding it difficult to move. Most of his ministers have become self-centred as they are unsure of their days in office. The BJP is biding its time, waiting eagerly to get into the CM’s gaddi once the JD(S) term of 20 months gets over. The CM is left to take the flak for all the ills. This is not to say that he hasn’t been doing anything. He is criss-crossing the state, meeting people, listening to their problems, and making a lot of promises. Implementation of promises would have been easy had there been no impediments. But he has to clear them to prove himself as a good administrator.

Kumaraswamy’s supporters cannot be faulted. When they backed him to form the government with the help of the BJP, much against the wishes of Deve Gowda, it was clear that their main aim was to taste power. Most of them were first timers. Those who couldn’t make it to the ministry or the boards and corporations were obviously hurt. While the CM was trying to work things out, Gowda took a Uturn, supported his son’s action, dropped his anti-BJP stand, grabbed the reins of the party and started dictating terms — from who should become a minister and where a bureaucrat should be posted to what projects should be given an impetus. With most senior members sidelined after the JD(S)-BJP link, the CM started taking advice from his father and brothers. Kumaraswamy’s problems began here. Till then he’d been applauded for his words and actions.

There is now talk of a reshuffle of
the JD(S) part of the ministry.

And who do you think is working on it. Not the CM, but Gowda Sr, with the help of his other sons. This has irked legislators supporting Kumaraswamy. They fear that some of them may end up as losers. Gowda may push in his men, even those who didn’t back Kumaraswamy initially. Another grouse is that the CM is too soft towards the BJP members. He listens to them more and takes their advice often, they complain.

Kumaraswamy says he is inexperienced and so takes the advice of his father, particularly on party matters. He has to keep the BJP in good humour for having lent support to topple the Dharam Singh government. Moreover, he needs the BJP help to defuse the Reddy bomb. He faced the BJP ire once when he tried to bring in a legislation, on the advice of his father, to take over the Bangalore-Mysore corridor project. He cannot afford to antagonise the saffron party any more. He even met Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani to please the local BJP leaders.
Another problem Kumaraswamy faces is that most local BJP members, with the exception of some like Dy CM Yediyurapa, resent being dictated to by Deve Gowda. Our alliance is with Kumaraswamy’s JD(S), not that of Deve Gowda, they say. They fear the growing proximity between the father and son may undermine the alliance, and that they may not get an opportunity to rule the state. Some rebels like Janardhan Reddy have been very vocal against Kumaraswamy. That the BJP is not able to silence him is a major cause of worry for the CM.

The Congress is fishing in troubled waters. It is fanning the flames of dissidence by approaching disgruntled JD(S) men. Helping the party in this break-JD(S) strategy is one-time Gowda disciple Siddaramaiah. Having been number two in the JD(S) for long, till Gowda’s sons started spreading their wings, Siddaramaiah knows the ins and outs of the party. He and a few Gowda baiters are working overtime to dig out documents to nail the Gowda family. First they proved that the family has large tracts of land in an around the Bangalore-Mysore corridor. Then came the Rs 150 crore bribery charge. Next, they unearthed a huge property that the family purchased in the prime IT corridor in Bangalore after Kum a r a sw a my took over. The latest is the huge land purchase in Mandya by his sisterin-law. More such exposes are in the pipeline.

Kumaraswamy has been cornered by his family, supporters, detractors, and the opposition. He is partly to blame for the mess he is in. When he took over, he was firmly in control of his party, the coalition outfit and the government. The people looked up to him with high expectation. He changed track and fell into the pit. Will he emerge unscathed and pick up from where he left? He can, only if he stops relying on others to take decisions for him. Will he?