With the SC not touching the Speaker but preventing a whip for Karnataka rebel MLAs on trust vote, it’s advantage BJP

Perhaps, the trust vote sought by beleaguered Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who is at his wit’s end to hold the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance government in the face of the Opposition BJP’s ambitions, relieved the pressure on the Supreme Court. Given the constitutional propriety of a floor test in the Assembly to decide the fate of any government, the top court dismissed the rebel lawmakers’ claim that the Speaker was being biased in not accepting their resignations and declared the latter “free” to decide their status. In a way, it did not dilute the integrity of the Speaker’s chair and let him study the resignations on a case-by-case merit, whether they were politically expedient, made under duress or attract disqualification under the anti-defection law. But by insisting that the rebel lawmakers should not be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the Assembly, it prevented the Kumaraswamy government from issuing whips to force their presence in the trust vote today. So the ruling was a bit of a mixed bag, with the top court attempting a neutrality of sorts, not appearing to take a stand in favour of either side, but clearly weighing in favour of a new reality. And that is of 16 coalition legislators and two Independent lawmakers resigning over the past two weeks. Had the resignations been accepted earlier, the ruling coalition would lose its majority, its 118 members coming down to 100 and the majority mark dropping from 113 to 105. The BJP has 105 members and the support of the two Independents, which would take its tally to 107. Now even if the dissidents show up or stay away on voting day, assuming that they are just as committed to their decision, it is advantage BJP given the reduced majority mark. If the lawmakers are, however, disqualified, they must be re-elected and can’t get ministerial portfolios, something which all rebels are eyeing and the pro-coalition Speaker could just queer their pitch a bit. The acceptance of their resignation would let them become Ministers easily if the BJP comes to power in case Kumaraswamy doesn’t manage the numbers. It would be pertinent to note that the top court had also in a midnight hearing cleared the decks for the coalition government a year ago, factoring in credible political reality of that time.

Be it a rag-tag arrangement or fresh elections, the Karnataka voter sure deserves better. Ever since the Assembly elections last May threw up a muddled verdict, governance has taken a backseat as the ruling coalition and the BJP have not given up on their power-hungry efforts to snap at each other’s heels. The BJP, by virtue of being the single largest party, claims the “moral” right to rule but has been less than ethical in its strategies, trying to destabilise the state government and aggressively pursuing Operation Lotus, which involves weaning away ruling party legislators with promises, entitlements and ministerial berths. Cornered by the Assembly tally and wanting to leverage their votebases for the Lok Sabha election, both the Congress and JD(S) hurriedly came together in a convenient but lopsided pact to stay in power. The Congress conceded the top spot to the JD(S) besides letting go of prized seats for the Lok Sabha, risking severe dissension among its own ranks. On the surface, both the Congress and JD(S) are making the right noises of saving their government but both know that numbers cannot repair inherent contradictions and can only damage both parties, particularly the Congress, going forward. Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar may be frantically trying to win back some of the recalcitrant flock but party stalwart and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was always unhappy about the forced alliance, would rather now win an election on his terms. The dismal performance of a front government is more a drag on the Congress and it would rather junk that burden than yield benefits to the dynastic Kumaraswamy and HD Deve Gowda, who are losing support even within their party. Besides, there needs to be an end to transactional politics, which frankly reduces democracy to an absolute farce. Both the BJP and the Congress should, therefore, stop playing this war of trading each other’s insecurities, cleanse the rank of free-loaders and work on getting a decisive verdict in the first place.