Congress has been a party of dependency and servility since the time of independence, more so reinforced after Indira Gandhi’s era. That dependence has been restricted to the Nehru-Gandhi family and no other leader has been given the power or authority to control matters. Now, with Rahul Gandhi’s resignation and the Gandhis ostensibly stepping away from the immediate leadership, crisis is already visible in the ranks. The Karnataka crisis is the first which sees no hopes for quick reconciliation.
14 MLAs have reportedly tendered their resignations in the Karnataka Assembly out of which, 10 are from Congress and 3 from JD(S). The total strength of the assembly stands at 224, out of which 113 is the majority mark. The coalition of Congress and JD(S) has a total of 118 MLAs. However, this resignation reduces their tally to 104, less than the majority mark. Moreover, there is intense speculation that at least 5-6 more MLAs may resign on Monday. If the speaker accepts their resignations, BJP is well on its way to form the next government.
The disgruntlement is due to CM HD Kumaraswamy, who is nowhere in the picture. A source in Congress said, “There are way too many power centers in the coalition. There is Kumaraswamy, who is hoarding 11 portfolios. There were several requests to expand the number of cabinet berths and share the portfolios with seniors and veterans. That did not happen. On the other hand, Siddaramaiah has also been controlling Congress MLAs. There was a perpetual stalemate between Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah. The constant transfer of officials and the power struggle resulted in several veterans being sidelined. They realised that staying with the coalition was worthless.”
Ever since Rahul Gandhi has resigned, there is a vacuum in the party as no president has taken over. Moreover, leaders do not even know who is in charge anymore.
In light of this situation, the party leaders had met in Delhi yesterday to discuss the situation but the meeting was given a miss by the Gandhis, a move not many perceive to be wise.
The coalition in Karnataka had been already quite fragile, given that it was formed abruptly and had been facing issues since Congress and JD(S) were finding it difficult to work with one another. However, in the past, every time there is an issue in the party, the Gandhis have swooped in to save the day, which isn’t the case now.
The biggest example of this was the formation of the Karnataka government. Ahead of the results, it was being envisaged by the Congress that the verdict might be a hung one. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, with Ahmed Patel in tow began working on a possible coalition of Congress and JD(S). In this, efforts were put in to improve ties between the 2 leaders, former CM Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy. Along with this, the other leaders were also made to be in coherence with the party stand, to ensure there was no disgruntled member. Such was their influence that Siddaramaiah had agreed to stand behind Kumaraswami, the man he once vehemently opposed. The alliance was anything but natural especially considering the minor partner in the coalition was getting the Chief-Ministerial post and that was bound to ruffle some feathers within the state Congress ranks. Even then, the writ of the Gandhis was meekly accepted by the Congress leaders in the state and Kumaraswamy was sworn in.
Now, that the Family hand is not moving the pieces anymore, there is no leader who can navigate through the crisis because none has that kind of standing in the party. The disgruntled leaders are upset, and rightly so. However, there is no higher authority to whom they will listen to. Along with the Gandhis refusing to interfere, the CM, HD Kumaraswamy is busy vacationing in the USA. Apparent Congress troubleshooter, DK Shivkumar has been holding meetings since the past one month, trying to coax the leaders to ensure they stay with the party, but all in vain; the leaders are determined to resign.
The fact that no Gandhi has stepped up to manage the crisis in Karnataka is making all the difference. By abruptly resigning, Rahul Gandhi has left the party to fend for itself, something which they don’t know how to. Never in the history of Congress has it happened that a Nehru-Gandhi is not involved in the working of the party. Since a sycophantic attitude was inculcated in the leaders from the very beginning, expecting them to suddenly handle everything their own isn’t viable. Rahul Gandhi believed that he is being extremely selfless by quitting, however, with the subservient attitude which has been inculcated in the party leaders from the very beginning, this abrupt decision of non-interference is just about the worse thing he could do to the party.
