Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who took the fast lane to keep promises made in the poll manifesto in the Assembly elections early this year is being forced to roll back or modify decisions at the same speed owing to opposition not only from rival parties but also from within.
The decision to implement and then put on hold the Common Entrance Test Act (CET Act) is the latest self-inflicted injury of the eight-month-old Siddaramaiah government. Officially called the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act of 2006, its stipulations on admission quotas had left parents and students livid.
This, however, is not the first time that the CM has rolled back the decision. In fact, the first rollback was done within a month after he assumed power in May. Earlier, in one of the review meetings with top officials of the finance, excise and revenue department, the CM directed them to find ways to increase revenue mobilisation by introducing “safe and cheap liquor,” for the poor. As expected, the move was strongly opposed by women groups and rival parties. CM’s confidant and Excise Minister Satish Jharkiholi was also one of the first to resist the move and later shot down the proposal. Not willing to damage his clean and pro people image, the CM was forced to withdraw the proposal, but not before blaming media for creating confusion.
Similarly, his government withdrew the additional director’s post it had created at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research to clip the wings of C N Manjunath, son in law of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. CM’s Man Friday and PWD Minister H C Mahadevappa had recommended the CM to create an additional Director’s post and accommodate his “friend—N M Prasad”. Following criticism, the CM was forced to issue a clarification that the government order creating a new post was a mischief of a sacked administrative officer.
The government also went back on its decision to introduce a bill against superstition, and modified its Bidai and school tour schemes after a senior Congress leader and former Union Minister B Janardhan Poojary came-out openly against two flagship schemes—Bidai and Tour for OBC students—that were aimed at creating a vote bank. He was also critical on the proposal for introducing the anti superstitious bill.
Former chief minister and Opposition leader in the Legislative Council D V Sadananda Gowda blames it on lack of cohesion in the government that leads to this kind of confusion. “From day one, the CM has been announcing programmes after consulting his politically insecure inner circle and so-called intellectuals,” he told The Sunday Standard, describing the mechanism as one of “putting the cart before the horse.” BJP spokesperson and former Minister Suresh Kumar felt Siddaramaiah is in a great hurry “to impress the electorate ahead of the Lok Sabha polls”.
Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary, who has been critical of two key decisions of Siddaramaiah, praised his willingness to review his actions. “It is better than defending wrong decisions,” he said. Siddaramaiah should start a correspondence course on how to announce first and withdraw later, Suresh Kumar quipped.