HDK's first year in office hasn't been smooth sailing

“I’m at the mercy of Congress. I’m a child of circumstance. I’ve swallowed poison like Lord Vishakantha.”

This was how Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy described his position in the early days of his tenure, which has been dotted with turbulence and a general air of political uncertainty.

The recent exit polls that predict a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that the BJP would win big in Karnataka have overshadowed any celebration Kumaraswamy may have planned to mark the completion of one year in office. He had taken oath of office on May 23 last year.

Over the past year, Kumaraswamy went to town with his pet crop loan waiver scheme, which was seen as a fiscal challenge as it involved writing off loans worth Rs 46,000 crore.

A technology-driven process has helped Kumaraswamy counter any allegations of misuse in the scheme.

Some other new schemes launched by the Kumaraswamy-led coalition have not received the same attention as the loan waiver.

These include the Badavara Bandhu scheme to disburse interest-free loans to street vendors and small traders and the chief minister’s Mathrushree scheme to provide monthly assistance to poor pregnant/lactating women.

The Kumaraswamy regime also passed the Karnataka Debt Relief Bill that seeks to clear loans the poor have borrowed from private moneylenders.

The coalition has also had to face devastating floods in Kodagu district and a severe drought.

“Kumaraswamy’s policies reflect his concern, but implementation has been weak. The one-year performance isn’t satisfactory,” BSP leader N Mahesh, who was a minister in the Kumaraswamy Cabinet, said.

Politically, the coalition government has had a sword hanging over its head since its inception. The BJP, with 104 legislators, is said to have engineered at least three unsuccessful attempts to destabilise the government.

Plus, Kumaraswamy has had his position undermined by Congress legislators openly saying Siddaramaiah is their chief minister. This led to Kumaraswamy publicly threatening to step down. In all this, Kumaraswamy’s relationship with the press, especially electronic media whom he has boycotted, has been rather uneasy.

“Three fears have kept the government from delivering to its maximum potential,” political analyst Muzaffar Assadi said.

“One, the fear of BJP working to destabilise the government. Two, fear of dissidence in the Congress. Three, fear of oneupmanship between the Congress and the JD(S),” he noted. “In some ways,
the coalition has been successful in that it hasn’t collapsed yet.”