Congress-JDS coalition under too many pulls and pressures

Newly sworn-in Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy did not commit himself on the Lingayat separate religion issue.

Bitter rivals Congress and Janata Dal Secular joined hands to deny the single largest Bharatiya Janata Party a chance to govern Karnataka, but within 48 hours of staking claim to form the new government in the state, cracks have surfaced in the coalition, raising questions about the stability of the new government in Karnataka headed by JDS president H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Congress strongman D.K. Shivakumar, who played a key role in preventing Congress MLAs from being poached, was expected to be sworn in along with H.D. Kumaraswamy, but his missing out the Cabinet bus annoyed his supporters. Milind Dharmasena, a D.K. Shivakumar aide, told The Sunday Guardian, “One must remember that if this government is getting formed, D.K. Sir had a crucial role. It was his alertness that foiled efforts to poach many MLAs from the resort.”

While Kumaraswamy stayed away from assuring anything concrete to the people of the state on the farmers’ loan waiver issue, coalition pressures were visible. In his maiden press conference as Chief Minister, Kumaraswamy steered clear of committing himself on the contentious Lingayat separate religion issue and the Mahadayi issue.

These are just few of the issues that the state faces immediately. What shocked many was the direct attack by Chief Minister Kumaraswamy against the seer of Sanehalli Lingayat Mutt Panditaradhya Shivacharya Swamiji. With over 50 Lingayat MLAs in the new Assembly, things may be difficult to control.

While the JDS, which has been allotted 12 Cabinet berths under the power sharing mechanism, is struggling to find candidates for the same from amongst its 37 MLAs, the Congress is facing a problem of plenty to fill up its share of 22 Cabinet berths. The Veershaiva Lingayat associations are demanding a deputy chief ministership for a senior Lingayat leader, while the minority Muslims who constitute 19% of the population hope that the coalition will give the post to a Muslim MLA. Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily told this newspaper: “I have advised Cabinet expansion in batches to both the parties.”