Being in power is essential for any political party. The regional parties are the most desperate to get power at any cost as they know well that the organization will not survive for long without power. The second line leaders of these parties are mostly corrupt powerful individuals whose sole aim to get into politics is to make money through government contracts.
Shiv Sena, the party led by Uddav Thackeray did not want to join the BJP led government in Maharashtra but the party legislators forced the high command to join the government. The argument behind joining the government was that the party was outside power for more than a decade and if they did not come to power for another few years, the party would not have survived.
The same thing is happening with JD(S) in Karnataka. The regional party with 37 seats in the Assembly lost power in 14 months as the government could not prove majority in the assembly. The Congress-JD(S) alliance was against the popular mandate as BJP got the highest percentage of votes and the highest number of seats. So, it was obvious that the government would not survive for a full term.
As the JD(S) has been voted out of power, reports have emerged that some JD(S) legislators want to support the BJP government in the state as this will give the party a chance to remain in power. Last time the party was in power in the state was more than a decade back when HD Kumaraswamy became chief minister in February 2006 and survived for one and a half year till October 2007. The party leaders know it very well that if they are not in government for another few years, the party will not survive and therefore they are keen to support BJP government.
“Some Of Our Lawmakers Want To Support BJP From Outside,” said GT Devegowda, a party MLA and former minister in Kumaraswamy government. The patriarch of the party and former prime minister of the country HD Deve Gowda accepted that some legislators want to support the government as they want to remain in power for 60 months.
“There is nothing wrong in GT Devegowda’s statement. The coalition government was formed on the assumption that it will be in power for 60 months and we had to go out in 14 months. They must be feeling bad about it. We have our workers to save the party,’’ said HD Deve Gowda.
JD(S) functionaries and voter base are not happy with the leadership of Kumaraswamy who blamed ally Congress a number of times for not being able to perform. The voting percentage and the number of seats party won have reduced over the years. In the 2013 assembly election, the party had won 40 sears and 20.09 percent of votes. This was reduced to 37 seats and 18.30 percentage of votes in the 2018 assembly election. The Lok Sabha seats won by the party reduced to 1 in 2019 from 2 in 2014 and voting percentage declined to 9.67 percentage from 11 percentage in 2019.
The traditional vote base of Vokkaligas also seems withering away from the party due to its opportunist behavior and weak leadership. The 2019 general election post-poll data indicated that six out of every 10 Vokkaliga votes went this time to the BJP. So, the party is in deep crisis and the leadership offers no solution.
A section of the party has raised questions over the ability of Kumaraswamy to lead the party and the position of Deve Gowda’s family as party patriarch is in danger. If the party does not support the BJP government in the state, there is a possibility of some leaders challenging Kumaraswamy’s leadership or they might threaten to leave the party. In any scenario, the Gowda family’s future does not look bright.