So it’s final now- B S Yeddyurappa has taken oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka today. The midnight Supreme Court antics of the opposition failed miserably, as the highest court of the land upheld the Governor’s decision, giving the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate the go-ahead to form the government. Although, Congress’ petition will be heard again this morning, Yeddyurappa would have been sworn in by then. Any analyst worth his salt can tell you that after Yeddyurappa assumes the chief ministership, it is very unlikely that anyone else will get a chance for a long time.
This puts to rest several debates, accusations, charges and counter-charges that both sides traded. Both sides quoted the law selectively, pointed at precedence, and exposed the other sides hypocrisy. But the Supreme Court’s ruling point is that there is only one parameter- the governor’s prerogative. This explains why the opposition has no right to question the governor, as well as why governors in other states were right when they invited coalitions to form the government instead of the single largest party. Ultimately, it all comes down to whether the government in power has the support of a majority of MLAs or not. In most instances, the governor’s assessment of the situation has been right.
Charges of horse-trading are flying thick and fast in Karnataka, because the BJP is just short of the halfway mark. Apparently several disgruntled MLAs from the newly-formed JD(S)-Congress alliance are in touch with the BJP, and are ready to play ball. Yesterday, the man whom the Congress supported for the Chief Minister’s job, H D Kumaraswamy, claimed that the BJP was offering his MLAs one hundred crores each. This was followed up by a warning to the BJP, telling them that if they poached his MLAs, he would poach double the number of MLAs from the BJP. However, Kumaraswamy did not mention how much he would offer considering the BJP was offering a whopping hundred crores.
Moreover, horse-trading isn’t necessarily monetary in nature. The MLAs can be offered all sorts of perks, like ministries for instance, in exchange for that one vote in the floor of the house. The biggest instance of this phenomenon that we witnessed post the Karnataka elections, was when Kumaraswamy was offered the chief minister’s post in exchange of coming together with the Congress Party and forming a government with the sole prerogative of keeping the BJP out. It is believed that Kumaraswamy was offered the deputy chief minister’s post by the BJP, which he refused. Kumaraswamy himself claims that he chose the Congress over the BJP because the Congress is a secular party while the BJP is communal. However, we couldn’t help but notice that the BJP offered him the deputy chief minister-ship, while the Congress offered him the chief minister-ship itself. So along with “preserving his secular credentials”, Kumaraswamy also went along with the highest bidder. Coincidence perhaps.
Now, it remains to be seen how the BJP cobbles up a majority government in two days. Considering the floor test is just two days away, the disgruntled MLAs in the opposition camp have two options before them. The most obvious one is to abstain from voting, which will bring the houses strength as well as the opposition’s strength down, strengthening the BJP’s position considerably. The other option that they have is to defect openly before the trust vote, considering the fact that anti-defection laws kick in only after they are sworn-in as MLAs. Many voices that lean towards the Congress Party are finding solace in the fact that only two days have been given to the BJP to prove a majority in Karnataka. What they do not understand is that this is an advantage for the BJP. There will be no change in government for six months after Yeddyurappa proves his majority on the floor of the assembly. It is more advantageous for the BJP to get this over with than to keep their flock (their own MLAs plus the defectors) together for two to three weeks.
