21/05/2018
Why Karnataka election is an alarming situation for Congress?
It is the first time when all parties seem to unite against a non-congress govt. Indian politics did not see this, since independence. First time when all political parties and even congressmen stood against congress govt was after emergency.
All of them were on the same stage, with same agenda. All of them were unhappy with the corruption within and outside the govt and by the atrocities done during the emergency etc..
They managed to get majority in 6th Lokshabha(1977). Janta party leader Moraraji Desai managed to be the first non-congress Prime-minister of India. But politics is not that simple. They had different ideologies and different agenda. So, he could run the Govt for not more than 2 and 1/2 years and 6th Lokshabha was suspended within 3 years.
In 7th Lokshabha, due to political instability and lack of leadership, Congress(I) won the general elections with a absolute majority. Voters of India forget the famous 21 month Indian Emergency in 3 years and voted Indira Gandhi back to power.
When we relate the circumstances of post emergency 6th Lokshabha(1977), to present scenario, the only thing which appears to be uncommon is 'Emergency'. So, is this something really uncommon? It has been around 4 years of BJP rule in Center and they have won almost every state election they want to, except Karnataka. Actually, they are the largest party even Karnataka, with a fractured mandate. Famous Demonetization, GST, strengthening of Income tax laws and so many policy level changes has been taken by the current govt. They have caused a lot of unease for a lot of people in and outside the system. The communal harmony has always been a question during any BJP govt. And despite all these unease they have managed to win almost every state elections after 2014? So, people have liked their decisions?
I, as a common man, don't feel these decisions have converted into votes. The use of muscle, money and power is not new for Indian elections. If the morale of party workers are high, a good management of these, combined, can win a lot of votes and can win almost every election. But what's wrong with this? Every political party does that for power. I feel that BJP has diverted itself from the ideology which initially had the impression of good governance and no tolerance against corruption. Corrupt people from all over the places come to BJP to make themselves clean. They have compromised with every good ideology RSS had and affix to every other ideology RSS had.
As per intellects, there is an emergency like situation in India. This is a different kind of emergency. This not very similar to the famous Indian Emergency. People can speak, but they wont be listened. Media is not banned, but manipulated. News are now shown, but with a certain angle. If news are shown with a different angle, they are mocked. Voter's have become blind followers. Any dissent to the political views, appears to be anti-govt.
As a result of this kind of emergency, all the political parties have again united. They are trying for a bigger alliance in 2019 general elections. Maybe, they will be able to, somehow win the elections, and form a non-BJP govt in 2019 or 2024. Will this result in a good future of India? With a fractured mandate, even when they are able to form a govt, they will not be able to run it. More like a situation when Indira Gandhi came into power after 7th Lokshabha, Narendra Modi will again come to power with a bigger and better mandate, after a few years of misrule and poor leadership.
The history of Congress party shows that every-time they were involved in an unholy alliance, like the one with JD(S), the Govt., has not lasted for long. The desperation to keep BJP out of power, shows, how weak the congress leadership is at this point of time. Poor position of Congress leadership, will not lead into any benefit, even after forming a govt in Karnataka. The moral of workers and leaders will go down. Congress mukta bharat may soon become a reality, if it goes like this. Congress has become a second class citizen in Karnataka even after winning more seats than JD(S). This is alarming. I think, the base of every strong party is the District level and panchayat level worker. The present congress party lacks in that base. We have seen many examples like Tripura where BJP did not have the ground level worker, and they have managed to do well after making the base stronger. Congress needs a strong leadership and people with strong organisational skills to re-engage the vote base they had, re-build the trust they had.
A situation like this in Indian politics where every election has been almost one-sided, the democracy will be in danger. The power will concentrate with a single party/ideology and the misrule like the famous 60 yrs Congress misrule is in making.
