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Controversies mar Bommai’s tenure
On July 28 last year, Basavaraj Bommai replaced Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman, BS Yediyurappa, as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka
On July 28 last year, Basavaraj Bommai replaced Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman, BS Yediyurappa, as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka.
Within three months of taking over, Bommai’s “action and reaction” remark in connection with the growing instances of moral policing and hate crimes was construed as a way of justifying the incidents.
This was soon followed by introduction of a series of legislations like anti-conversion, restrictions on inter-faith marriages, mooting the introduction of Bhagavad Gita in school curriculums and other measures.
“Bommai is no more than an agent of the Union government. The last one year of Bommai’s rule appears something like the surrender of the state government to the party and to the forces that control the party,” remarked A Narayana, a Bengaluru-based political analyst. Bommai, 62, has spent a considerable part of his tenure to better relations with the party high command, whose guidance and instructions he has depended on for the functioning of the state, he added.
However, former MLC and spokesperson of the state BJP Capt (retd) Ganesh Karnik Karnik said,“Our party is not a family-owned property or a kind of autocratic structure. We have a collective decision-making system where the central leadership, state and people from our (Sangh) parivaar sangathan (organisation).... all take collective decisions.”
Since 1985, no ruling party has come back to power in Karnataka adding to the uncertainty in terms of the verdict in the upcoming 2023 assembly elections.
Many in the central leadership still believe that Bommai is yet to emerge from the shadow of Yediyurappa. Legislators loyal to Yediyurappa and defectors who helped him engineer the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government, continue to occupy almost all seats in the council of ministers and the party will have to rely on the 79-year-old to get the backing of the dominant Lingayat community, who are believed to account for almost 16% of the state’s population.
However, Karnik said that Bommai has continued the legacy of Yediyurappa in taking everyone along. He added that the focus on the agrarian community, funding their children’s education, widows, specially- abled people and others shows that “it is a government which responds to the needs of the people”.
With five vacancies in the cabinet, Bommai has seemingly been unable to get the approval from the BJP high command to expand the same.
Narayana also pointed out that state government resources have been used to build the CM’s image. “There is nothing for him to show on governance front,” he said.
“He (Bommai) and the industries ministry’s focus on mobilising focus towards industrialisation after the Covid impact has given rich dividends. This is a great achievement,” said Karnik.
In addition to the hate crimes, the state was also in the centre of multiple controversies surrounding issues like hijab, halal, azaan and banning of Muslim traders from fairs around Hindu temples.
“There has been no visible push in terms of development. Even in other issues like the hijab (controversy), it created rancour, gained global attention and for what?” Narendar Pani, a political analyst said.
Karnik, however, stated that Bommai did not condone communal politics as alleged and instead implemented the rule of the law.
“He faced challenges aimed at creating a bad name for him, whether it is the Hubbali incident (communal violence), the hijab or halal issue or anything else. Without getting into controversy, he ensured that rule of law prevails in the state,” Karnik said.
Analysts also remarked that Bommai has been making “desperate” attempts to better his own equation with the central leadership but has so far been unable to do so.
The infighting for cabinet berths and open statements on possible change in leadership are issues he inherited from the previous regime that continue to make life harder for the chief minister.“One year has largely gone in fire fighting and problem solving,” Sandeep Shastri, a political commentator said.
Karnik, however, said that Bommai was able to contain groupism and factionalism within the party.
He also added that “no one in the BJP” can guarantee if they will be projected as the chief minister next year as was seen in states like Assam and Maharashtra.
The lack of a strong opposition, who also have the same problems as the saffron outfit, analysts said, was helping Bommai gain confidence.
“The textbook revision offended multiple social groups and communities but the government did not budge from its stand and only offered to make cosmetic changes. It is partly because of a weak opposition that the BJP does not feel threatened,” Narayana said.
Shastri provides another point of view in which he says that Bommai has been successful in putting it all on the judiciary.
“He has used a straight bat to deal with several issues, especially hijab case, in which he said that they will go by what the court says which is an interesting way of putting the onus on the court,” Shastri said.
Giving a “zero” score to the state government in Karnataka, the Congress’s Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said “In his tenure, large scale corruption that had never happened in Karnataka’s history has taken place. For the first time, contractors had to pay 40% commission...there has been zero development... I will give zero score to this government, it should actually be negative, but I’m giving zero.”
