Karnataka crisis - An opportunity to strengthen democracy
Political developments in Karnataka have thrown serious questions about our political system, politicians, positions of constitutional authority and the roles of legislature and Judiciary. Instead of debating what went wrong, can we rectify things?
THE POLITICAL suspense thriller that has unfolded over the week in Karnataka is reaching its climax and has kept many on their edge of seats like a Hitchcockian thriller. For the media it was purely entertainment show at its best with its TRPs soaring, whereas for the bunch of panellists it was a debate of political issues plaguing the state. The first ever BJP government in South India from the day of its formation has been on a sticky wicket. BJP induced MLAs from other parties to resign their seats and contest on BJP ticket and gained a simple majority.
These outsiders had sided with BJP only for power and money. There was bickering like in any party in power and lobbying and petty politics were being played out to the discomfort of the party. Last year the mining lobby literally brought governance to a standstill and their own MLAs challenged the leadership of the government under incumbent CM. The opportunistic opposition like Congress and JD(S) saw an opportunity to topple the government and their desire to be in power was irresistible. Adding fuel to this internal party squabbles was the wide spread allegations of corruption of the ministers and their kin. The party had bought peace with dissidents by dropping few ministers and quelled their demand of change of leadership. The mining scam, sex escapades of few ministers and caste politics within the cabinet were highlighted by the media which tarnished the image of the government.
The central government in 2009 appointed HR Bhardwaj as governor of Karnataka a strategic move by UPA to unleash its clout on opposition ruled state. HR Bhardwaj had won accolades from Sonia Gandhi for de-freezing Quattrochi accounts, bailing her out in office for profit controversy, UPA standing firm in CEC Navin Chawla case. He started his new assignment in right earnest by first making scathing remarks on Reddy Brothers and the illegal mining, made a no barred personal attack on VC of Mysore University and constantly interacted with media attacking the government like an opposition leader. The state government was always at loggerheads with Bhardwaj their bête noir. There was a cabinet reshuffle last month and few independent MLAs, who enjoyed power all along with cabinet berths were dropped. On October 6, 19 MLAs including several ministers in the cabinet approached the Governor and submitted their letter of withdrawal of support to the state government. The learned Governor instead of guiding them to submit their letter to speaker of the house, asked the CM to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly on October 12. Naturally the conspiracy was already hatched. The first salvo started from the dissidents and the next from the Governor. The number was sufficient to cause concern to the BJP government and reduce it to a minority. The strategy was dissidents not to resign from party membership or align directly with any other alternative government so that they can avoid disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. Ideally, the BJP MLAs should have sent their letter of dissent and withdrawal of support to the CM, instead they went to Governor. They did not approach the speaker to be identified separately, but wanted to remain in the party and bring down the government. The independent MLAs also did not want to attract the Tenth Schedule consequences therefore did not submit their resignation to the CM or the Speaker but went to their friend, philosopher and guide HR Bhardwaj. The JD(S) immediately arranged for security of these dissidents by arranging their safety in various resorts- Kochi, Chennai, Goa etc. The BJP mediator’s effort to reconcile with its dissidents was thwarted by Goa Congress leaders and JD(S). However for some strange reasons three dissidents returned back to BJP. It was not enough to hold on to power. Then the BJP had no choice – it had to resort to disqualification of the 16 MLAs on the day of the motion of confidence. In the meantime the Governor wrote a letter to the speaker under article 175 instructing the Speaker not to disqualify the dissidents and maintain status quo- an unconstitutional gross indulgence from a Governor of a State. The Speaker disqualified the dissidents on the 11th October early hours after hearing the pleas of the dissident lawyers on the previous day. The intention of the dissidents and their actions were clear – they wanted to bring down an elected government in connivance with Governor and the opposition without attracting disqualification. What happened on the floor of the Assembly on 11th October was anarchy and unprecedented in the Karnataka Assembly. The Governor sent recommendation to the (probably already prepared in advance except for few blanks here and there) Central government to impose President’s rule in the state as the constitutional machinery had failed in the state. Circumstances created in a way that Article 355 and 356 again to be misused by the Central Government. Congress has brought down 103 governments when in power at the centre in its post independent history so this was supposed to be another one in its list. However, common sense prevailed at the centre as the UPA knew that it cannot enforce Article 356 as it does not have majority in the Rajya Sabha. Therefore on October 12, the governor sent a new letter to the Karnataka CM to prove his majority again on 14th October hoping that High court will deliver its verdict on 13th October on the disqualification petition challenged by the dissidents in the High Court. On 13th October evening the High Court rules that the hearing is adjourned to 18th October and it will not stay the Legislature convening on 14th October. The Karnataka government went ahead and sought vote of confidence again and the verdict was divided 106-100 in favour of the government with the disqualified MLAs unable to participate in the trust vote. Now the government’s fate hangs on the outcome of the High Court verdict. However, post the second trust vote, indications given by Congress leaders, JD(S) leaders and disqualified members point that there is more drama and more twists and turns in days to come and the BJP government may not survive very long in Karnataka.
The political developments in Karnataka has thrown serious questions about our political system, politicians, positions of constitutional authority and the roles of legislature and Judiciary. The tenth Schedule itself has undergone changes from its original form in 2003 thanks to recommendations of Dinesh Goswami committee report and other recommendations made by various committees on running of legislatures. The truth is there are still many grey areas in the Tenth Schedule that need to be addressed to ensure few greedy individuals in collusion with constitutional authorities can not defeat the mandate and will of the electorate. The private Members bill introduced by Manish Tewari of Congress in the Loksabha in April 2010 talks about liberalising Tenth Schedule and protecting elected member’s right to dissent within a party system without being disqualified.
There seems to be a consensus growing amongst the electorate to demand effective legislation to remove the grey areas existing in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and appointment of Governors and Speakers, who uphold democratic values by acting impartially. The mandate of the people should not be held to a ransom by few disgruntled selfish elected representatives, partisan constitutional heads and political parties.
The central government in 2009 appointed HR Bhardwaj as governor of Karnataka a strategic move by UPA to unleash its clout on opposition ruled state. HR Bhardwaj had won accolades from Sonia Gandhi for de-freezing Quattrochi accounts, bailing her out in office for profit controversy, UPA standing firm in CEC Navin Chawla case. He started his new assignment in right earnest by first making scathing remarks on Reddy Brothers and the illegal mining, made a no barred personal attack on VC of Mysore University and constantly interacted with media attacking the government like an opposition leader. The state government was always at loggerheads with Bhardwaj their bête noir. There was a cabinet reshuffle last month and few independent MLAs, who enjoyed power all along with cabinet berths were dropped. On October 6, 19 MLAs including several ministers in the cabinet approached the Governor and submitted their letter of withdrawal of support to the state government. The learned Governor instead of guiding them to submit their letter to speaker of the house, asked the CM to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly on October 12. Naturally the conspiracy was already hatched. The first salvo started from the dissidents and the next from the Governor. The number was sufficient to cause concern to the BJP government and reduce it to a minority. The strategy was dissidents not to resign from party membership or align directly with any other alternative government so that they can avoid disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. Ideally, the BJP MLAs should have sent their letter of dissent and withdrawal of support to the CM, instead they went to Governor. They did not approach the speaker to be identified separately, but wanted to remain in the party and bring down the government. The independent MLAs also did not want to attract the Tenth Schedule consequences therefore did not submit their resignation to the CM or the Speaker but went to their friend, philosopher and guide HR Bhardwaj. The JD(S) immediately arranged for security of these dissidents by arranging their safety in various resorts- Kochi, Chennai, Goa etc. The BJP mediator’s effort to reconcile with its dissidents was thwarted by Goa Congress leaders and JD(S). However for some strange reasons three dissidents returned back to BJP. It was not enough to hold on to power. Then the BJP had no choice – it had to resort to disqualification of the 16 MLAs on the day of the motion of confidence. In the meantime the Governor wrote a letter to the speaker under article 175 instructing the Speaker not to disqualify the dissidents and maintain status quo- an unconstitutional gross indulgence from a Governor of a State. The Speaker disqualified the dissidents on the 11th October early hours after hearing the pleas of the dissident lawyers on the previous day. The intention of the dissidents and their actions were clear – they wanted to bring down an elected government in connivance with Governor and the opposition without attracting disqualification. What happened on the floor of the Assembly on 11th October was anarchy and unprecedented in the Karnataka Assembly. The Governor sent recommendation to the (probably already prepared in advance except for few blanks here and there) Central government to impose President’s rule in the state as the constitutional machinery had failed in the state. Circumstances created in a way that Article 355 and 356 again to be misused by the Central Government. Congress has brought down 103 governments when in power at the centre in its post independent history so this was supposed to be another one in its list. However, common sense prevailed at the centre as the UPA knew that it cannot enforce Article 356 as it does not have majority in the Rajya Sabha. Therefore on October 12, the governor sent a new letter to the Karnataka CM to prove his majority again on 14th October hoping that High court will deliver its verdict on 13th October on the disqualification petition challenged by the dissidents in the High Court. On 13th October evening the High Court rules that the hearing is adjourned to 18th October and it will not stay the Legislature convening on 14th October. The Karnataka government went ahead and sought vote of confidence again and the verdict was divided 106-100 in favour of the government with the disqualified MLAs unable to participate in the trust vote. Now the government’s fate hangs on the outcome of the High Court verdict. However, post the second trust vote, indications given by Congress leaders, JD(S) leaders and disqualified members point that there is more drama and more twists and turns in days to come and the BJP government may not survive very long in Karnataka.
The political developments in Karnataka has thrown serious questions about our political system, politicians, positions of constitutional authority and the roles of legislature and Judiciary. The tenth Schedule itself has undergone changes from its original form in 2003 thanks to recommendations of Dinesh Goswami committee report and other recommendations made by various committees on running of legislatures. The truth is there are still many grey areas in the Tenth Schedule that need to be addressed to ensure few greedy individuals in collusion with constitutional authorities can not defeat the mandate and will of the electorate. The private Members bill introduced by Manish Tewari of Congress in the Loksabha in April 2010 talks about liberalising Tenth Schedule and protecting elected member’s right to dissent within a party system without being disqualified.
There seems to be a consensus growing amongst the electorate to demand effective legislation to remove the grey areas existing in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and appointment of Governors and Speakers, who uphold democratic values by acting impartially. The mandate of the people should not be held to a ransom by few disgruntled selfish elected representatives, partisan constitutional heads and political parties.
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