Looking Back At The Collapse Of Congress-JD(S) Alliance In Karnataka

The review highlights various factors such as the forced alliance between JD(S) and Congress to keep BJP out of power, increased strength of BJP in the state after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, horse-trading and Yeddyurappa’s reluctance to get back to power, that led to the collapse of the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka within a short span of 14 months.

The 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 12 May, 2018 for 222 constituencies of Karnataka. The voter turnout was 72.13%, the highest in Karnataka since the 1952 Assembly elections.

The Indian National Congress (INC or the Congress) was seeking re-election, having governed the state since 2013, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempted to regain the office, having ruled the state government in 2007 and 2008–2013. The Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) allied to contest the elections.

The election campaign of BJP focused on its old slogan “Congress Mukt Bharat“ (India free from Congress) of the 2014 parliamentary elections, as well as reviving Karnataka from the “criminal neglect” of the Congress party. On the other hand, the INC was working on strengthening booth-level organisations to ensure that it was reaching out to every single worker and voter.

The results were announced on 15 May, 2018 with BJP winning 104 seats, INC 80, and JD(S) 37. The BSP, independents and others won one seat each. None of the parties gained enough seats to form a majority, leading to a situation of a hung assembly.

The INC and JD(S) made a post-result alliance, which gave them the numbers to form the government. However, the Governor called Yeddyurappa (BJP) to form the government. The Governor gave 15 days to BJP to prove the majority in the assembly, failing to it the matter reached the Supreme Court, which further allowed a 3 days window for Yeddyurappa government to win the floor test.

Yeddyurappa resigned before the trust vote. Then H D Kumaraswamy, leader of the JD(S), was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka with the support of INC. However, the government could only stay in power for 15 months. Several legislators from the ruling alliance resigned, and the independents joined BJP.

As a result, H D Kumaraswamy lost the trust vote and resigned on 23 July, 2019. Three days later, B S Yediyurappa became the CM of Karnataka once again.

In this light, this review seeks to study how the media has covered the series of events that led to the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka. The review looks into Indian mainstream newspapers, such as The Hindu, The Times of India, The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and The Pioneer to explain its findings.

Newspapers covered the day-to-day developments of post-election Karnataka. Johnson interviewed JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister of India, Mr H D Deve Gowda. This interview highlighted various issues facing Karnataka, the role of money and media in Karnataka politics as well as the stand of JD(S) towards the BJP and the Congress.

Deve Gowda did not rule out any possibility of a coalition in case of a hung assembly.

Election results showed that none of the parties or pre-election coalitions could gain majority seats to form the government. Newspapers covered the statements of leaders of different political parties and published explainers to simplify the post-election political dynamics.

The Indian Express printed a story titled Karnataka rollercoaster: From hung assembly to Yeddyurappa’s resignation, all that happened to cover various aspects of the events and scenarios that ousted Yeddyurappa’s BJP government.

The swearing-in of Kumaraswamy as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, along with the distribution of ministries among the JD(S)-Congress cabinet, got sufficient attention in the mainstream media.

Hindustan Times wrote a story on the possibility of a coalition for upcoming parliamentary elections. H D Deve Gowda stated that there had not been any decision on the matter, and it was early to say whether the current party coalition in Karnataka would contest the parliamentary elections of 2019 together.

Chishti analysed the media coverage of Urdu newspapers. Most of them called the formation of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government a bad omen for BJP.

Though the JD(S) and the Congress formed a coalition government, the road for Kumaraswamy was not an easy one. It faced several challenges from the beginning. The choice of Assembly Speaker, allocation of ministry portfolios, by-polls and relations with the central government were cited by The Times of India as the key concerns for Kumaraswamy.

Six months after taking office, Kumaraswamy agreed to expand the cabinet. However, it had been deferred several times earlier, adding to the discontent of several coalition members. In addition, many Congress legislators expressed their dissatisfaction with the government after not finding their names in the list of the extended cabinet, reported The Pioneer.

The deputy CM alleged the government for not naming him as the CM due to his caste. This remark did not have much impact, though it stirred some controversy.

Kumaraswamy faced criticism from both BJP and the Congress for being “too emotional”, whereas the coalition government was labelled as “incapable” and “helpless”.

Kumaraswamy also raised his fears of a conspiracy against the government. However, he did not directly name anyone or any party, although his remarks came after the former CM Siddaramaiah (of the Congress party) had told the press that he would like to be CM once again.

The coalition government was putting efforts to implement its welfare policies. However, it did not help the coalition perform well in the parliamentary elections.

When the media reported BJPs plan to topple the coalition government, Kumaraswamy first refuted them, saying that the JD(S)-Congress government was stable. He did say that BJP was trying to lure the legislators into switching sides but was certain of the sustainability of the government.

Soon after, he started to name BJP for attempted horse-trading of the legislators. Other JD(S) and Congress party leaders also blamed BJP for trying to buy out the coalition members of the legislative assembly.

BJPs Yeddyurappa quickly responded to these allegations saying that it was the JD(S)-Congress alliance trying the horse-trading, not the BJP. Their allegations became fiercer after the leak of a telephone conversation in which a BJP leader was offering money to the JD(S)-Congress coalition legislators to change sides.

Meanwhile, two independent legislators who were supporting the JD(S)-Congress alliance withdrew their support.

Swamy gave five reasons to show why the BJP was trying so hard to topple the Kumaraswamy government. After losing the trust vote, Yeddyurappa wanted to show the central government that he still had the acumen to command the BJP in the state. It might be his last chance to work as the CM of the state due to his age.

Swamy added further that in the south, regional parties such as AIADMK, DMK, TDS, TRS and CPM have become stronger. Therefore, Karnataka held a strategic location for BJP in the South.

The defection of legislators, call for trust vote and the subsequent collapse of the Kumaraswamy government was covered by the media.

Commenting on the fall of the Kumaraswamy government, Singh wrote that the JD(S)-Congress alliance never had the mandate to rule Karnataka as BJP won the highest number of seats in the assembly elections and swept the Lok Sabha polls. Kumaraswamy was the leader of the third-largest party, not even the second. In the Lok Sabha polls, JD(S) performed poorly.

Singh added that Kumaraswamy was aware that his government would not last long. In an interview with Gopal, Kumaraswamy said that the internal bickering of Congress destabilised the government, while BJP was already trying to topple it. He also questioned the central government’s role.

Kumaraswamy reportedly said that none of the rebel legislators came to him to address their grievances earlier, so blaming him for ignorance was incorrect on their part.

Babu discussed the reasons for the collapse of the Kumaraswamy government. Firstly, the hung assembly paved the way for instability as it showed that the voters were unsure about whom to give the authority to rule the government.

Secondly, it was an unnatural alliance with Congress having a pan-state presence, whereas JD(S) only had its hold on the Old Mysuru belt comprising of 10 out of 30 districts of Karnataka. Moreover, compared to the Congress’ vote base, JD(S) mainly represented Vokaliggas — a dominant landowning caste.

Congress central command was unable to control its local leaders and, thus, opted to give the CMs seat to JD(S). In this way, the JD(S)-Congress alliance was more of an obligation to keep BJP out of power than a secular one.

BJP won 26 of the 28 parliamentary seats in the 2019 elections, whereas the JD(S) and Congress were limited to one seat each. It strengthened the position of the BJP in the state. Policy preferences and concentration of power within a small group were other reasons which worked against the coalition government.