With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) falling short of majority by a slender margin of seven seats in the Karnataka Assembly election, the Congress, with 78 seats in its kitty virtually lost no time to surrender to the Janata Dal (Secular) which bagged just 38 seats. The Congress’ hasty decision to offer the post of the Chief Minister to JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy, prompted by its resolve to keep the BJP away from power, is short-sighted. Credibility of the Congress has already nose-dived and has naturally umbraged Dalit leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and G Parameshwara, who were dreaming to be the Chief Minister. Sadly, they do not have an opportunity at this moment to express their annoyance and, hence, they have chosen to suffer silently.
Congress leader DK Shivakumar was visibly upset at the Congress’ decision to hand over the reins of power to Kumaraswamy. However, the anger of dissident may explode any point, even though they have chosen to remain silent for now. Kumaraswamy, blinded by his hunger for power, failed to see the writing on the wall that the present arrangement is only fragile in nature. If Kumaraswamy becomes the Chief Minister, he will enjoy responsibility without authority — he can take no decision independently. He has no other go but to remain a puppet in the hands of even sundry leaders in the Congress if he wants to continue to be in power as long as possible. Even a smallest provocation is enough for the Congress to pull the plug to dislodge the Kumaraswamy Government.