A sense of animosity between the ruling and opposition parties peaked in the ongoing budget session of the Karnataka legislature. Each side appeared to be more keen on strengthening its Lok Sabha poll pitch.
The stormy session, which is likely to conclude on Monday, has witnessed the Congress government’s no-holds-barred attacks against the Union Government over the alleged disparity in the devolution of taxes being taken to an unprecedented level. It was also marked by acerbic exchanges between the senior leaders from the ruling and opposition parties, and faux pas that landed the government in an embarrassing situation.
The Congress Government — that was accused of using the Governor’s address to the joint sitting of the State Legislature, the government’s response to the debate on the Governor’s address, and the budget speech to launch a scathing attack against the Centre — went on to pass a resolution in the State Legislative Assembly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government.
The aggressive move, bordering on a confrontational attitude, showed all the signs of the Congress versus BJP fight ahead of the Lok Sabha polls escalating into a tussle between the state and Union governments. This could have wider ramifications on Centre-state relations, well beyond the elections.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress and its government in the state seem to be working on a clear plan of action and trying to entrench a strong feeling among the people that the Union government has done injustice to them. Politically, it is a shrewd move. Congress probably sees that as one of the major election issues, apart from its guarantee schemes, to persuade voters in an election that is most likely to be centred around the PM and his government’s performance.
However, while they continue to fight for what they believe is a just cause, the leaders must be mindful of the tone, aggression, and forums that are used to launch such attacks as that could encourage a sense of hostility among people, although the protagonist may not have any such intentions.
The differences of views and disagreements are healthy signs of democracy and political parties go to any extent to achieve their goals, more so in an election year. But, a more nuanced approach to drawing a fine distinction between government and political forums, may help the cause better.
On its part, the Centre should look at the issue more holistically and try to take the states that are expressing displeasure over the devolution of taxes into confidence. Not just Karnataka, other southern states, too, have raised the issue of devolution of taxes. For the first time, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his ministers and legislators even staged a protest in the national capital.
In the Legislative Assembly and the Council, despite the best efforts of the Presiding Officers of both the Houses, the proceedings were disrupted. In the Legislative Council, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had to end his speech abruptly after the BJP took objection to his repeated attacks against the Central government. Normally, in the past, members would listen with rapt attention when the CM or a Leader of the Opposition gets up to speak. That is not the case anymore. Both sides showed equal amounts of aggression. While the Siddaramaiah government went full throttle with its accusations against the Centre, the BJP left no opportunity to make its point.
The government was put on the mat by the opposition over its faux pas of excluding private schools from singing the state anthem and altering a slogan at the entrance of some classrooms from “This is a temple of knowledge, enter with folded hands” derived from a Kuvempu’s poem to “This is the temple of knowledge, ask without fear.”
After the issue of the state anthem rocked the session, the government cited a ‘printing mistake’ in the Government Order (GO) as an excuse and issued a new order stating that the state anthem must be sung in “all schools”.
ALL EYES ON RS POLLS
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha polls. Five candidates are in the fray for four seats. With 135 members in the assembly, the ruling Congress has the required numbers to get all three candidates; Ajay Maken, GC Chandrashekar, and Syed Naseer Hussain elected. While BJP has enough votes to get its candidate Narayansa Bhandage elected, the JDS candidate D Kupendra Reddy needs to get more votes, apart from his party’s 19 votes and extra votes allotted to him by the alliance partner BJP. Each candidate requires 45 votes to make it to the upper house.
The RS polls will also put the JDS-BJP alliance to the test again after the by-poll to the legislative council seat earlier this week. The BJP-JDS alliance candidate lost to the Congress candidate in the Teachers Constituency by-polls earlier this week.
Political radar
Ramu Patil
Senior Associate Editor
ramu@newindianexpress.com