JOIN USKarnataka: Waiting for govt, governance
After some initial hiccups, the Congress, which won 135 out of the 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly elections, has been able to decide on the names of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, without inordinate delay it must be said, given the circumstances. In the language of politicians, both Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar had an equal claim to the Chief Minister’s post.
While Siddaramaiah is a mass leader who commands a following across communities and different regions of the state and is also more acceptable to Congress MLAs, Shivakumar is the man who revived a sinking Congress in the state and made it a fighting force. While it is to Shivakumar’s credit again that after the initial posturing, he accepted the party’s decision and showed sagacity, this should not end up being a temporary truce. The party should not squander away the decisive mandate the voters have given it.
Intense politicking has now begun for ministerial berths and plum portfolios, and it is unfortunate that MLAs are staking claims not on merit but on the basis of caste, with even the seers of different communities seeking to influence ministry-making. Considering how caste-ridden Karnataka’s politics is, parties are forced to do the balancing act, overlooking other considerations such as regional and gender representation. Women usually receive a raw deal. The incoming Congress government must correct this anomaly.
Having gone all-out against the BJP government on the issue of corruption, it is incumbent upon the Congress to provide a clean administration. The Congress has announced that the five guarantees that it promised in the election manifesto would be approved in the first cabinet meeting itself. According to estimates, these guarantees will cost the exchequer at least Rs 50,000 crore. Karnataka has generally maintained budgetary discipline and the government must ensure that the fiscal deficit remains within permissible limits while implementing these guarantees. Implementing the guarantees may provide immediate succour to large sections of the population in economic distress, but the bigger task before the new government is to correct the lopsided development of the state and ensure equitable growth across regions. There is a huge disparity between Bengaluru and the districts in terms of per capita income, with its attendant consequences for human development. The government should take steps to wean the state off its over-dependence on the services sector, concentrated in Bengaluru, and focus on policy reforms and implementation to spread and spur industrial and agricultural growth across the state. While economic progress is undoubtedly important for the state’s development, it is also important to restore social harmony, which has taken a beating in the recent past.