Majority of the JD(S) MLAs want to avoid mid-term elections. But their party boss H D Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy are thinking just the opposite. Then, why isn’t the exasperated MLAs finding a solution on their own? Why are they still making Kumaraswamy as the rallying point to find a way out of the present political mess?
Well, the answers lie again in a question as to who should lead them otherwise.
The JD(S) is now a party of youngsters. After the exit of senior leaders including Siddaramaiah, P G R Sindhia, C M Ibrahim and others from the party, there is dearth of vocal and active leaders in the State unit of the party.
Though most of the leaders were in the second line when they were in the JD(S), they were seniors enough to speak up their mind and actively tour the State along with Mr Deve Gowda. Now, the party is in need of a leader, who could shoulder the responsibility during crisis.
No doubt Mr Gowda still happens to be the supremo and calls the shots. Another senior M P Prakash is a shield for the party in the legislative Assembly. But neither of them hold out a promise to the younger brigade. The wavelengths of Mr Gowda and the MLAs are not matching. For example, now Mr Gowda is insisting that there is no way left but to face mid-term polls, the MLAs are of the firm view that the elections should be avoided because non-transfer of power to the BJP has caused enough damage to the JD(S).
No killer instinct
Mr Prakash, despite being a seasoned politician, lacks that killer instinct essential for a leader. He himself admits that he lacks the zeal to work 24/7. He has no hesitation to admit that he would not be pro-active when it comes to exploring the possibility of realigning with the Congress to form a government. But he says that he would act as per the wishes of the MLAs and also go by the high command’s direction.
State party President Merajuddin Patel is not the type who will assert himself. Mr H D Revanna, another senior leader, is a workohlic like his father and younger brother Kumaraswamy. But so far he has not shown interest in growing as a team leader.
Mr Kumaraswamy has not only shown that he can be a leader but also exhibited the ability to build a team. Through his village stays and janata darshan, he has had an image makeover. He transformed himself from just being ‘another-son-of-Gowda’ to a popular leader, especially after urban local body elections, in which the JD(S) fared beyond expectations. So, the legislators had no problem in accepting him as their leader.
But Kumaraswamy is also being questioned by his party colleagues. His decision of not transferring power to the BJP has not gone well among the MLAs, especially of Lingayat community and those who got elected for the first time to the assembly. The MLAs, therefore, think it is calamitous to go to polls when people are seeing red at the party. Kumaraswamy did not even heed their call to avoid mid-term elections.
The legislators want the party senior leaders to workout some strategy to avoid the polls. Unlike Mr Gowda and his son, they do not have any inhibitions to either re-align with the BJP or the Congress. For this, they tried prodding Mr Prakash, who is also a Lingayat, to act and stage a revolt. But their efforts went in vain. Some even tried persuading N Chaluvarayaswamy, a confidante of Kumaraswamy. Cheluvarayaswamy himself says that somebody like Kumaraswamy should be there to keep the flocks together and he is not cut for it.
Result: When Kumaraswamy, again, convened JD(S) Legislature Party meeting at a resort, all of them meekly attended. They have expressed their mind but eventually authorised Kumaraswamy to take a final decision.
As one of the MLAs put it, “ We have no choice but to go with Kumaraswamy. Unlike his father, at least he listens to us”.
