Teetotaller Janata Dal supremo H D Deve Gowda and the Sangh Parivar clan in Karnataka, instead of beer, uncorked an Oktoberfest of the mythological and spiritual variety this week. Generously drawing from the Hindu pantheon, they went on the front foot finding analogues for their polymorphous selves.

As soon as the JD (S)-BJP coalition government collapsed after H D Kumaraswamy’s denial of power, BJP leaders began a Dharma Yuddha (war of ethics).

Party national General Secretary Ananthkumar branded the JD (S) Kauravas, who he said had among them a Duryodhana, Shakuni et al, representing the forces of evil and fraudulent design. He nicknamed the BJP side Pancha Pandavas or the Famous Five of epic Mahabharatha, representing the positive and righteous.

Senior Dal leader M P Prakash, a mythological buff, went on the defensive on Kumaraswamy’s behalf. He underplayed the ex-CM’s volte face on power transfer by citing the Ashwathama Hatah Kunjara episode from Mahabharatha where Yudhishtira, the epitome of truth, is made to utter a half lie to trick master warrior Drona to lay down arms, believing that his son Ashwathama had been killed.

The best role play came from Deve Gowda, who akin to Bhasmasura, the mythical Asura or demon, was out to test the efficacy of his destructive powers and ended destroying everything – his own image, the public goodwill earned by son and  former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy through his village stays and Janata Darshans, son Revanna’s hopes of becoming deputy Chief Minister, and the future of JD (S) MLAs, who are left with no vision,  just political vacuum.

Gowda, whom time and political circumstances had always favoured, has failed in his calculations, perhaps, for the first time. After goading Kumaraswamy to dump his deputy B S Yediyurappa, Gowda once again turned to Congress for enticement. Like Bhasmasura reducing himself to ashes by following the dance mudras of enchantress Mohini, the avatar of archetypal trickster Vishnu, Gowda found himself cornered by both BJP and
Congress.

 In the brief interlude after BJP withdrew from the coalition and till date, the party assumed different avatars by the hour. Starting from taking back support, the party went on to vow that it would have no truck with JD (S), followed by a Dharma Yuddha launched after seeking the blessings of a dominant community mutt pontiff based in Tumkur.

Then came abusive attacks on Kumaraswamy and accusations of  breach of trust and betrayal. Barely 24 hours later, Yediyurappa, accepting a reported offer of remarriage from Dal and air-dashed from Tumkur to Bangalore, using a ‘JD (S)-sponsored’ helicopter. The BJP high command in Delhi quickly dashed his hopes and said a firm no to renewal of ties with Dal.

A day later, BJP State President Sadananda Gowda wondered publicly if there was truth, indeed, in the allegations of Rs 150 crore mining bribe paid to Kumaraswamy. He also declared that BJP would never align with JD (S) in the future, even if the next election threw up a fractured mandate.

The morrow saw Yediyurappa again announcing BJP’s willingness to form a government if JD (S) extended “unconditional” support. The last avatar donned by BJP is the bid to seek high command nod for a possible unconditional tie-up, which Delhi leaders apparently rejected even before it was sounded.

Arguably, more avatars may be forthcoming from the BJP side. After all, Lord Vishnu is credited with 22 Avatars in all.

In all this political melodrama, the Congress and its leadership emerged champions, displaying both conviction and calculation. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was away in New York to address the United Nations, returned just in time to reject all overtures from JD (S) for renewal of ties and curb her partymen in the State from nursing such ambitions.

Congress emissary Prithviraj Chauhan, who camped in Bangalore at the height of the unfolding political crisis, reportedly came with the clear mandate of not raising any hopes of forming a government with JD (S).

He only listened to the party MLAs, a large chunk of 40 of them who had arrived at a consensus after a series of meetings at the residence of actor-turned-MP Ambarish, not to go with JD (S). Armed with this resolve and the high command’s go ahead, he met Governor Rameshwar Thakur and conveyed the Congress stand.

Later, when JD (S) reportedly made last ditch efforts to transfer power to BJP and rumours flew  wild and thick that a Yediyurappa-led BJP–JD (S) government was in the making, Chauhan merely advised his partymen to remain non-aligned and left for Delhi.

JD (S) and BJP plotted and schemed for 20 months to have the job – and for what? This week the coalition lost its political authority. Now, they seem set for losing their moral authority too.