The Congress party was finding it difficult to win big elections. It looked as though the best was behind it. That was when Karnataka provided the much-needed hope for India’s Grand Old Party, and it latched on to it as if there was no tomorrow.
In many ways, 2023 was a year of change for all three parties. And for state politics as well. Congress, which ran an aggressive and sustained campaign against the BJP government at the beginning of the year, stormed to power with a sweeping majority by winning 136 out of 224 seats in the assembly elections.
The guarantee schemes, a new strategy of presenting the party’s promises to the electorate worked well. The May 10 elections showed that Congress can work as a team and take on the BJP.
Siddaramaiah, who had joined the Congress in 2006, became the Chief Minister for the second time. He was CM from 2013-18. His cabinet reached a full strength of 34, within a week after he took oath on May 20 along with Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and a first set of ministers. In the past, CMs have either taken months to expand the cabinet or have left some slots unfilled.
The guarantee schemes became the flagship programme of the Siddaramaiah government. In seven months, the focus has been on implementing the schemes that include free travel for women in state transport corporation buses, free electricity, financial assistance to women heads of households, and Rs 170 instead of an additional five kilograms of rice to BPL families. The process for implementing the fifth guarantee of financial assistance to unemployed youth was started at the fag end of the year.
The promise of guarantees helped Congress win elections. It became part of the political lexicon in India. But, the long-term impact of guarantee schemes needs to be assessed. The Siddaramaiah government also faces a serious charge that it compromised the development works and even diverted over Rs 11,000 crore meant exclusively for the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) to mobilize resources for the guarantee schemes.
On the political front, Karnataka’s win rekindled hope among the Congress leaders, not just in the state but even at the national level. It helped Congress get a seat at the head of the table among I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) alliance parties.
Bengaluru played host to the opposition leaders meeting in July 2023 where the bloc was christened “I.N.D.I.A” to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The “reverse domino effect” of Karnataka’s win was the party coming to power in neighbouring Telangana. So much so that some allies even suggested that AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge should be projected as the Opposition’s PM face.
Post-assembly poll, developments saw a tectonic shift as former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, who had vehemently opposed the BJP in the past decided to be part of NDA and forged an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. Gowda seems to have changed his stance to save the regional party.
A wave of change also swept through the BJP. For the BJP, Karnataka is the gateway to the South. The defeat in the assembly polls signals a bigger challenge to expand its footprint south of the Vindhyas.
Its Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa returned to the centre stage in Karnataka with his son BY Vijayendra appointed as the party’s state president.
The year saw the emergence of a new set of leaders as Yediyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, and KS Eshwarappa, who formed the party’s mainstay in the assembly for many years, are no longer the party MLAs. Shettar, who left BJP, is currently a legislative council member of Congress.
In an unprecedented move, the BJP took over six months to appoint Leaders of the Opposition (LoPs) in the Assembly and Council. While R Ashoka was appointed LoP in the Assembly in November, Kota Srinivas Poojari was appointed as LoP in Council in December last week.
On the governance front, the administration faces many challenges, including severe drought. Farmers in distress are yet to get any assistance. The new government had to deal with the Cauvery River water-sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu. As the action-packed year comes to an end, we expect people’s welfare to take priority over politics.