The buzz in the air is that the Chief Minister is once again ‘threatening’ to expand his Council of Ministers. When I was on my walk this morning, an acquaintance I nod to everyday was grinning from ear to ear. Looking at this conscientious citizen so amused, I wondered whether I had missed out on anything. I asked him what was so amusing this morning. In mock surprise he said, “Have you not heard the breaking news?” My expression was one of shock and anticipation, and he blurted out, “Our Chief Minister is once again talking of reshuffling the ministerial pack!”. “That has been breaking news for over a year now”, I retorted.
And I did know better: A day earlier, when flying from Delhi to Bengaluru, my co-passengers had included senior Congress legislators. Looking at their sullen faces, I had realised that the grand ministry expansion plans had, once again, been conveniently shelved.
Ever since the Congress returned to power in the state last year, the priority of many a Congress leader has been the distribution of the spoils of office – ministerships, Legislative Council membership, and chairmanship of Boards and Commissions. Sixteen months into the term, prize positions are yet to be filled. One is not sure whether they are kept vacant by design, deadlock or desperation. Design, on account of the ‘carrot’ being available to be dangled before the hopeful; deadlock, because the ratio of posts to aspirants seems to be 1:10 (friends tell me, I err on the side of caution); or desperation, as the Chief Minister knows if he pleases some, he would displease many more.
Last year, Mr. Siddaramaiah won a hard fought leadership battle. A Congress man for less then a decade, his reaching the top post on the party coming to power was a reflection of the confidence the party’s ‘High Command’, on the one hand, and the party legislators, on the other, had in him. He started with the right political signals. He chose his ministers with care to send out a categorical message of the seriousness with which the new government viewed probity and integrity, factors that accounted for the defeat of the previous BJP government.
With Lok Sabha elections due in less than a year, all plans of expansion of ministry and filling up other positions were put off until after those elections. It was also important to stress that the 2013 Assembly Election results were more a vote of no-confidence against the former BJP government than an endorsement of Congress. Thus, it was critical that the Congress government made all efforts to show visible performance on the ground and deliver on its promises. Congress leaders were counselled to work in unison and contribute to a Lok Sabha victory. All appointments to different positions was to be a reward for performance and contribution to an impressive tally in Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.
It takes a huge effort for a ruling government to bring on themselves a defeat in a major poll within one year of coming to power, especially when it is still in the ‘honeymoon period’. The Congress’ challenge in Karnataka during this honeymoon period was that their rival had a ‘Crown Prince’, in the form of their prime ministerial candidate, hogging the limelight. The victory of the BJP and the relatively poor showing of the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka, put paid to all plans of Congress leaders who were hoping to secure prize positions as a reward. In the context of a humiliating defeat, how does one go about the exercise of providing political accommodation?
Politics, of course, has its own convoluted logic. Many Congress leaders claimed that the party lost the elections because these prize positions were not distributed before the Lok Sabha polls! “We could have gone back to the people with more respect and honour”, they claimed. How? “Simple...by flaunting our positions!” And now they are saying, “better late than never, give us these positions now, at least. It will improve the image of the party!”
One is at a loss to understand, how would a ruling party improve its image by simply distributing the spoils of office among its own. If a party’s image is about a ‘feel good’ factor among a select band of loyalists who are rewarded with positions, then we are truly in a ‘make believe’ world. That’s why it’s no surprise that a ruling party has not been voted back to power in Karnataka for the last quarter century.
The chief minister’s dilemma is understandable, and one sympathises with him. He has only 34 berths in his ministry, 30 already filled and only four vacant. Hopeful aspirants are, therefore, demanding not just a filling up of vacancies, but the removal of ‘non performing’ ministers. This would result in a larger pool of positions to compete for. With over a 100 hopefuls (MLAs and MLCs), the number of them who would be disappointed after an expansion, will still be huge.
Assuaging their feelings for the ‘unjust’ act of excluding them will be a Herculean task for even the most astute of leaders. Thus, the tactic of ‘expansion soon’, ‘expansion next month’, ‘expansion after this or that event’ eminently suits the leadership, as all hopefuls can be kept guessing and living in eternal hope!
However, this is a short-term solution, with disastrous long-term political consequences. It is like pushing all inconvenient decisions below the political carpet, only to one day realise that politics is all about taking inconvenient decisions. But too many such decisions have been pushed for far too much time. Governance, at the end of the day, is about taking those calculated risks in the public interest. It is not merely about political accommodation.
More than six decades ago, the Council of Ministers headed by Jawaharlal Nehru had 56 ministers. The buzz was that one more minister was to be added. A leading Opposition leader joked that Nehru’s pack of ministerial cards was full. If he added one more, that would be the joker! Another Opposition leader joined in and said that a pack had 56 cards and 2 jokers. Incidentally, a few days later, two new ministers joined in. For weeks, the hot top topic of political gossip was about identifying the two jokers in the pack.
Mercifully, after the Constitutional amendment fixed the upper limit of the size of the Council of Ministers in Karnataka at 34 (15 per cent of the strength of the Legislative Assembly), just four more will fill the pack. But this is what is causing agonisingly sleepless nights for the leadership. There is so little to distribute among so many. Maybe an annual musical chairs to fill 34 positions is the best solution! In 5 years, 170 people, can be accommodated. Governance can, of course, take a back seat.
— The author has been a keen student of Karnataka politics for over three decades and is currently Pro Vice Chancellor, Jain University
