Earlier this week, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s government completed one month in office. Although it is a short period to judge a government’s performance, the change of guard seems to have brought fresh energy to the administration, which looked jaded, especially in the last few months of Siddaramaiah’s tenure.
After recovering from the initial shock of the portfolio allocation, with two senior ministers sulking, the CM has managed to keep the spotlight on his government rather than on the political uncertainty in his party. Unlike his predecessor, the CM has avoided open confrontation with the Union government, and has so far refrained from joining his party leaders in the state in aggressively criticising the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
However, it is just the beginning, and the Congress government has a long way to go. Maintaining the same tempo and cohesiveness in the government is a Herculean task, especially after the expansion of the cabinet. The government presently functions with just 13 ministers out of a 34-member-capacity cabinet. Of these, only two are new faces, and the rest were part of the previous cabinet.
If the Congress leadership decides to give a majority of the remaining berths to new faces, the seniors hoping to return to the cabinet would be aggrieved. However, if most seniors are accommodated again, it would leave new aspirants disappointed. Either way, it’s a tricky situation. Congress will be counting on the new government’s performance for the 2028 polls, but how those left out respond will also be crucial. It would be interesting to see how the party strikes a balance between the loyalists of Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in the cabinet expansion.
On the administrative front, key portfolios like agriculture and education do not have full-time ministers, with the portfolios vested with the CM. Several districts in the state are staring at a drought-like situation, and water levels in the reservoirs are low. The government has asked farmers to temporarily avoid cultivating crops relying on dam water. While the CM holds multiple meetings in the state capital, the ministers are hardly seen in action on the ground. If they fail to make amends, the government risks being branded as Bengaluru-centric.
That apart, some of the decisions, like the tightening of guarantee schemes and the ambitious plan to develop Bidadi township on the outskirts of Bengaluru, need to be handled deftly. The Bidadi township issue should not be seen merely as a Congress against JDS/BJP issue, but concerns of all farmers must be taken into account, while also keeping in mind plans to develop townships to decongest Bengaluru. However, the state capital’s development cannot come at the cost of farmers, who depend solely on agricultural land for their livelihood.
As for the flagship guarantee schemes, it is never a bad idea to fine-tune them. The exercise to weed out ineligible beneficiaries has started. The state government must be prudent with spending and ensure that the schemes benefit the most needy. At the same time, this should not merely become a cost-cutting exercise that amounts to the Congress government going back on its 2023 election promise. The departments handling the revision exercise should be sensitive not just to the letter, but also to the spirit of the government’s direction.
Meanwhile, the CM has also announced the formation of guarantee committees with five members in each of the 7,000 panchayats and 4,000 wards. This will be in addition to the existing guarantee committees at state, district and taluk levels.
The committees are tasked with the effective implementation of the schemes. On one hand, the government is tightening the schemes to avoid unnecessary expenditure, but at the same time, it is adding thousands of members to guarantee committees. What will their role be in each panchayat or ward when the benefits are directly reaching citizens, and officials are mandated to ensure that? It may be a good move to strengthen the party cadre at the grassroots, but at whose cost?
Also, the CM’s announcement of forming 10,000 ‘Bharat Jodo’ youth associations in each panchayat and ward with a grant of Rs 10 lakh has faced flak from the BJP, which terms it as an attempt to put taxpayers’ money into Congress workers’ pockets. Although the government claims that guidelines would be issued for the formation of associations without political interference, it is anybody’s guess as to what extent they will actually be non-political.
In the last 30 days in office, the new CM has given ample indication that he is a man in a hurry, unwilling to let go of any opportunity to put his stamp on the administration and consolidate his position within the party.