The cabinet formation in Karnataka stands delayed because the coalition partners have reached an impasse. Nobody wants to part with the coveted finance portfolio. Tug of war is going on between the two parties over the portfolio allocation. Especially, Ministry of finance has become a bone of contention. The national leadership of the Congress is ready to give JDS crucial finance ministry but the state leadership of the Congress is unhappy with this decision, they are adamant of keeping the key finance ministry with them. A Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, said to Hindustan times, “They (central leaders) don’t want the portfolio issue to jeopardize the larger opposition unity in 2019. Their stand is that the Congress should be seen as walking an extra mile to keep the opposition unity intact ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.” He further added, “The state leaders are of the view that the finance portfolio in Karnataka is very important since the Chief Minister’s post is with the JDS. All development projects are cleared by the ministry. Instead of convincing the alliance partners, they feel the Delhi leaders conceded too much.” The national leadership of the Congress after surrendering CM post to the JDS against the will of their state leadership now wants them to make further compromises only just to keep BJP away from power. The national leadership of the Congress sidelined the former CM Siddaramaiah, now sidelining the Congress strongman DK Shivakumar who is credited for keeping Congress united and preventing Congress MLAs from joining BJP. He got no reward for his astute political maneuvers. Congress has a story of sidelining strong regional leaders.
Meanwhile, as Rahul Gandhi spends time abroad, HD Kumaraswamy is putting pressure on the Congress by making a complete mockery of the alliance. First, it was Deve Gowda who claimed that they offered the Chief Ministership to the Congress and Congress refused, giving the JD(S) a holier than though image, and not an opportunistic usurper of power.
Next, HD Kumaraswamy made a series of statements which make the Congress Party look like some sort of tyrannical mafia boss, under whose mercy the entire state and HD Kumaraswamy are. Here are some of the gems by HD Kumaraswamy.
“I am not indebted to people, indebted to Congress. I am at the mercy of the Congress. I am not under the pressure of the 6.5 crore people of the state.”
“I fly in economy class and save money for the state, unlike Congress leaders who fly in choppers.”
“Farm loan waiver can only happen if Congress agrees. I am at the mercy of Rahul Gandhi.”
Making their ally look really bad and damaging them politically looks like a pressure tactic so that the Congress yields and allows the JDS to keep the finance portfolio. JDS wants finance ministry to fulfill its promise of loan waivers and other freebies promises which it had made to the people. According to an One India report the JDS’ pressure tactic seems to be working. Congress is likely to let them keep finance. According to the reports, HD Kumaraswamy threatened to resign if the finance ministry was not given to them. Congress has not been even asked to bend down but they went one step ahead and willingly started crawling.