Five years ago, as an
intern, I covered the Karnataka assembly elections and the swearing in ceremony
of the first BJP state in South India. It was a day of jubilation and pride for
the BJP to have made inroads into the South of India. The swearing in ceremony
took place in front of the majestic Vidhan Sowdha and all the satraps of the
Sangh Parivar descended in the IT capital. The people of Karnataka
believed that their time for change had arrived with their then Chief Minister
B.S Yeddyurappa, the man who built the party by the brick in the state is also
largely to blame for its annihilation. The party crafted its own defeat with unstable governance, corruption and lack of leadership.
Fast forward to 2013, the BJP finds itself in a political
quagmire, as an oxymoron to its own ideology - “A party with a
difference”. The humiliating defeat should give the saffron party an opportunity to get its
cards right ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The party would do well to solve
its problems of Prime Ministerial aspirants and concentrate on building a strong
base across the country.
One party that has done
remarkably well is the JD(S) who fought tooth and nail in the past 5 years.
Essentially a party of South Karnataka, they need to reach out to the entire
state and try to build their party as a regional secular force to reckon with.
Political pundits state
that the resounding victory for the Congress in these elections has been seen
more as a result of blunders committed by the BJP rather than due to the
proactive role played by the grand old party as a principal opposition.
The Congress high
command might have just struck the right chord in choosing the 64 year old Lohiaite
socialist Siddaramaiah as
its Chief Minister in Karnataka over the loyalists of the party. A former
Janata Party stalwart, Siddaramaiah comes with rich administrative experience
and is sure set to infuse fresh energy and revive the state from the deep
slumber and political chaos it finds itself in. The high command has done well
by recognizing and rewarding the state leadership, this will
encourage the party workers and help in curbing internal factionalism.
After almost a decade
the Congress has formed a single party government in Karnataka, it would do
well to keep its flock together. If everything goes right, Karnataka can be
what Andhra Pradesh was to the UPA I in 2004 by sending the highest MP’S to the
capital making Siddharamaih as a messiah akin to the late YSR.
