Unparliamentary democracy

In parliamentary democracy, the party having majority elects or selects a leader who is then invited to form the government and seek vote of confidence in the assembly. It has been three days since May 14 when results were declared with Congress inflicting a stunning defeat to the incumbent BJP by 135 to 66 seats. The overwhelming majority won by the Congress also and left no space for the imaginative expectation of the JDS, with only 19 seats, in playing any role as ‘kingmaker’. Congress has achieved a truly magnificent victory against the all-powerful BJP, unquestionably the most potent political party in Indian history. Despite BJP having used everything within its awesome reach– money, material, media, thousands of committed cadres, central probe agencies and ultimately the two champion campaign veterans- prime minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah- Congress managed to inflict a crushing defeat. In a way, the Karnataka election exposed the crucial chink in the BJP’s seemingly impenetrable armour- nationalising local state politics by turning is as a referendum for Modi; creating fear psychosis among minorities and warning that if other parties come to power, then it will invite unwanted situations. BJP president J.P.Nadda spent months campaigning in the state, while Modi and Shah addressed no less than 30 mega rallies each. On the other hand, Congress focussed on local leaders- former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state unit president D.K.Shivkumar; targeted the ruling BJP for blatant extortion of 40%, attempt to divide people along communal lines, reservation issue and also the Amul(Gujarat) versus Bandani(Karnataka) or local versus non-local product . After the Karnataka win, which most pollsters predicted a hung house, Congress confirmed it is the only viable national alternative to BJP. That may be plausible but not necessarily conclusive. After a magnificent show and raising hopes of a likely reversal change in 2024, the Congress unfortunately self-inflicted itself with an old habit of ensuring that its high command have the final say in deciding everything. This is the reason for the delay in choosing the next Congress chief minister in Karnataka. The delay has disappointed those who voted the party and they are made to wonder whether the party has the ability to get going when needed. The race for the chief minister’s chair is being fiercely fought between state Congress chief D.K.Shivkumar(DKS) and former chief minister Siddaramaiah(Sidda). DKS is the engine that drove the party with an effective poll strategy, personally overseeing distribution of tickets to winnable candidates; campaigning on a non-stop daily basis and also putting in a lot of money for the party’s election campaign. These contributions should have left no doubt that DKS should have been awarded with the post of chief minister. However, despite his massive contributions and unlike former chief minister Siddaramaiah, DKS does not appear to enjoy the same mass appeal as the former. The delay in choosing the next leader is due to the old and undemocratic political culture, where everything should be decided by party high commands. It is the same even with BJP. The Congress has to shed off this culture and allow elected members of states to choose their own leaders. Karnataka will have a chief minister but the delay is going to cost the Congress dear in the days to come as delay has only exposed its indecision.