Among the many promises made by the Congress before it came to power in Karnataka in 2023 was that it would restore a certain degree of morality, even probity and transparency, to public life. Nearly three years later, members of the Congress have publicly defied all decorum and rectitude in ways that have robbed the few achievements of the state government, including some innovative legislation, of their shine.
For too long, an unseemly struggle over the “right” to chief ministership has not only pre-occupied TV anchors, newspapers and the social media, but has absorbed much of our elected representatives’ time. It shows no signs of abating. Recently, 30 Congress MLAs flew off to Delhi to plead with their party leaders for ministerial posts in what’s left of a shaggy term.
And just prior to that, MLAs from all parties engaged in what a Kannada newspaper columnist wittily called the “ticket match” when they bargained for three VIP passes each to all IPL matches played in Bengaluru. A few BJP representatives gained high moral ground when they refused the passes, and preached better sense to the elected representatives. But the rare show of unity across party boundaries only made the MLAs’ sense of entitlement more conspicuous.
The Congress began its stint in power with an enormous amount of goodwill, in part engendered by the multiple social benefits it bestowed on the people of the state. But it had also promised a roll back of some of the controversial measures hastily undertaken during the brief tenure of the BJP — relating to conversion, cattle slaughter, and school/college dress-code ordinances. To be fair, some efforts were made to restore the confidence of people in the police, for instance, by reminding the guardians of law and order of their constitutional duties.
Some attempts were made to foster a new respect for the Constitution among school children. And through at least three legislations — related to hate speech, against caste-based violence and killings, and in protecting scheduled caste and tribe students from discrimination and violence (via the Rohith Vemula Act) — Karnataka may well be building a new social order.
But these achievements have been gravely undermined by an unwillingness to go far enough. Could the Act against killings in the name of family pride not also have protected inter-faith relationships and marriages — sorely needed in our times? The Act, appropriately called Eva Nammava Eva Nammava — The Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes Act — invokes the well-known vachana of Basava: “Do not ask ‘Who is he?’ (Ivanaaravva, Ivanaaravva). Consider him ours (eva nimma maneya maganeya)”. Perhaps the Congress stopped short of including inter-faith marriages fearing the backlash it could face from the quarters that have fashioned a huge campaign against the invented idea of “love jihad”.
There is increasing reticence in the party to take a firm stand programmatically in favour of minorities (and recognise their contributions to the party). Political pragmatism seems to have prevailed over programmatic commitments. It is evident in the choice of its candidate for the Davangere South bye-election that has just concluded.
Despite the growing demand of the Muslim community to have one representative of their own, a stripling of the Shamanur Shivashankarappa family (Samarth Mallikarjun) was chosen. Muslims constitute only 4% of the legislature (with nine seats of 224), and the reluctance of the Congress to take a principled, if risky, stand against dominant-caste (Lingayat) political family demands was a lost opportunity.
In going further to harshly punish two people, such as the party’s state unit political secretary Naseer Ahmed and minority chief K Abdul Jabbar, for alleged “anti-party” activities, the Congress may have fatally sealed its future.
Siddaramaiah had the foresight, vision, and the opportunity to forge a new path that could have truly breathed new life into the Alpasankhyataru–Hindulidavaru–Dalitaru (minorities, backward classes and dalits), or Ahinda, platform that stood him in good stead earlier.
But in capitulating to caste/family dictates, he has chosen not only to forsake political morality but has squandered a chance of being a bolder heir to the pioneering legacies of Devaraj Urs.
Janaki Nair is a Bengaluru-based historian and the author of The Promise of the Metropolis: Bangalore’s Twentieth Century. The views expressed are personal
