The Karnataka crisis comes at a time when the Congress is battling a deep leadership crisis at the centre. The vacuum will be felt even as several senior Congress leaders move in to take stock of the situation after the mass resignations jolted party’s rank and file. The good news, however, is the party is zeroing down on new faces like Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia to take the party forward.
In politics, like in cricket, timing is very crucial. The tremors in Karnataka have been timed to perfection. It comes at a time when Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is on an overseas trip to US, the Karnataka State Congress president is out of the State and the Gandhis have gone into hibernation.
Political coups have their own strategic timings. In Goa too, major developments have unfolded when key players have been out of bounds. The 11-month-old coalition government led by Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha was on the verge of collapse when he was on a holiday in Australia. The recent trend, however, has been a couple of midnight coups that caught the Congress and MGP napping.
The Congress, at this stage stands exposed in fire-fighting dissensions since there is no leadership. Washing his hands off after taking responsibility for the Lok Sabha election defeat may be a morally sound decision of President Rahul Gandhi, but to leave the party directionless, without any alternate plan, only reflects a self-centered approach.
The Gandhis should not have allowed uncertainty to creep in at this juncture. Leadership is not only about leading the team in victories, but it’s also about giving direction in crunch times. It is dealing with crises like these that define a leader. Abandoning the ship and leaving it on ‘auto-pilot’ speaks very poorly of Rahul’s leadership.
Blaming the BJP of engineering defections every time there is a crisis won’t help the situation either. It will only expose the Congress since politics lately has been about power, and defections have been used as a means to get there. Ethics, political dharma and morals have no place in current-day politics. Congress needs to accept the fact and fight on. The party leadership knew that the government was skating on thin ice virtually living by the day, it should have moved in swiftly.
Losing power in Karnataka would only mean rubbing salt into the wounds of the party which has been beaten black and blue at the recently held Lok Sabha elections. And the Congress should have been wary of the fact that the BJP would seize the slightest of advantage in the few states which it is not in power.
Congress can’t afford the let go at this stage since it is ruling only in four other states and one union territory -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Pudducherry. The party may be putting up a brave fight but much of it revolves around the Speaker. Accommodating dissidents is a temporary solution but holding on to this fragile coalition would be a huge challenge.
