Only a fortnight ago, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was the toast of Karnataka politics after dumping coalition partner BJP for the sake of “public peace” and making out an eloquent case for a second chance in power to complete Janata Dal (Secular)’s ambitious “pro-people” programmes.

What a difference a fortnight can make. In the days that followed his surprise exit as chief minister after Governor Rameshwar Thakur directed him to resign or face dismissal of his minority government, embattled Kumaraswamy’s task was clear, even if it was daunting. He had to reassert his authority by cheering his own troops whom BJP and Congress were trying to poach, and also reconnect with voters to show he was at their service — no mean feat.

He began conferencing hard with his party MLAs that culminated in a two-day getaway to a resort on the City’s outskirts. He was seen frequently on television making an emotional defence of why he denied BJP a chance to rule, and struggled with alleged family feud. The end result — a consensus among JD(S) MLAs that mid-term polls should be avoided by all means even while Congress and BJP claimed they were ready to go to the hustings.
In the 40 months of coalition government after the May 2004 Assembly polls delivered a fractured verdict, the JD (S) which came a poor third with 58 seats had the longest tryst with power by aligning with Congress first and later with BJP. The single largest party in the Assembly with 79 seats, BJP,  enjoyed power for just 20 months, and Congress, second largest group with 64 seats, ruled for little over 18 months.

The longest serving JD(S) is still not ready to go to the people. The reason — it is yet to fulfil its 2004 poll manifesto pledges and the party’s MLAs want time to nurture their respective constituencies. Hence, the compulsion by party MLAs to realign with either Congress or BJP and form government anew.

What did the JD(S) MLAs do while in harness for more than three years? When JD(S) shared power with Congress, it held the deputy chief minister’s post and important portfolios such as finance and excise. Later, when Kumaraswamy threw out Congress and aligned with BJP, JD (S) bagged the chief ministership and key portfolios, including home, under the Jammu and Kashmir model of power sharing. Still, the party MLAs plead unpreparedness to face the polls today. The key question is had these MLAs forgotten the expectations of the voters who brought them to power in these last 40 months?

Perhaps, the realisation that voters are tolerant, and affectionate, but will fall out of love very quickly if their elected representatives abuse their privileged role is making these MLAs wish away elections for as long as it is convenient. They also seem to be aware that a small margin of swing voters can make all the difference come election time.

The political turmoil that swept Karnataka after the 2004 fractured verdict in the Assembly polls continued to haunt the state, claiming two coalition governments so far with chances of yet another coming to power.
The state has also been battered by administrative chaos due to political instability in the coalition era notwithstanding the Congress-JD(S) and JD(S)-BJP dispensations’ claims of having ensured development.

Despite public assertions of going to the people’s court, the JD(S) seems to be waiting for either Congress or BJP to blink first for renewing ties. The JD(S)’s first marriage with Congress, touted as a representation of “secularism”, was on the rocks from the beginning because of Janata Dal supremo H D Deve Gowda’s continuous interference. It abruptly ended in a divorce after Kumaraswamy staged a political coup and formed an alliance with BJP.

JD(S)’s remarriage with BJP also ended in separation and divorce when the former did a volte face on an “agreed to” power transfer. Both partners are now maligning each other in public. The coming days promise more smear campaigns as all three parties will be undertaking “yatras” — the JD(S) to expose BJP, the BJP to expose JD(S) and the Congress to expose both JD(S) and BJP. A case of the pot calling the kettle black.

In the current scenario, any reunion built on the bedrock of mistrust will be unethical and immoral, if not illegal. Instead of suffering another unviable government beset by policy failure, unscripted promises and apologies that do not amount to saying sorry, it is time the state faced a mid-term election and voters got good value for all their tax money. Also time to end fixed terms for elected governments and incarnate the power of recall to ensure governments are always in tune with people’s aspirations.