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A REAL CABINET AT LAST

THAT IT SHOULD have taken nearly seven months for Chief Minister Dharam Singh to have something like a real Cabinet speaks volumes of the state of affairs in Karnataka. Atrophy has been the mode of existence of the Congress-Janata Dal (S) ruling coalition, which was the inelegant outcome of a fractured verdict in the May Assembly elections. Although Dharam Singh and Siddaramaiah were sworn in Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister on May 28, the first expansion of the Cabinet, with 10 inductions, took place on June 5. From then on, it has been a balancing act without cease for the Karnataka Chief Minister. True, the Congress high command was preoccupied with Assembly elections in Maharashtra, and the by-election to Bidar (in Karnataka) had to be gone through without a hitch. Now that a 32-member Cabinet is in place, the people of Karnataka will expect the Government to start delivering on its promises at least from now on.

A lean Cabinet can be very effective if it has competent and hard-working members, is allowed a free hand, and is empowered to take substantive decisions within a coherent policy framework. But in coalition politics, unless the partners are on the same wavelength, there are bound to be serious existential problems. This is what the Dharam Singh Cabinet has been facing from the start. The developmental and socio-economic problems of the State cry out for urgent attention. Sections of industry are up in arms against the inadequacy of the State's infrastructure. Investors are saying that Bangalore and its environs have reached a saturation point and cannot absorb any more industries, including in the strategic Information Technology sector. The controversy over the Bangalore agenda task force is hardly dying down, with industry captains contending that the Janata Dal (S) does not want to accord priority to industrial and infrastructure development as much as it would like to promote agriculture and irrigation. The most commonly heard complaint naturally is that the Government lacks both coherence and the political will to tackle developmental challenges.

In its anxiety to hang on to power in Karnataka, the Congress struck a costly deal with the Janata Dal (S). Its desperate keenness to retain the Chief Minister's chair necessarily meant there would be an unwritten quid pro quo. The Janata Dal (S) chief, Deve Gowda, would set the terms of government formation and policies while allowing the Congress to make believe that it was at the helm. This arrangement has brought discord into the administration and accentuated tensions with neighbouring States. The way out is clear enough. Chief Minister Dharam Singh needs first to become his own man. He can then formulate a policy framework for his Government on the basis of the coalition's common minimum programme. Within that framework, he and his colleagues need to assert the freedom and independence to govern credibly. The good work of the predecessor S.M. Krishna administration must not be washed away in the politics of coalition governance. Karnataka has enjoyed an enviable lead over other States in strategic development sectors, notably in IT and biotechnology. But Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have their sights set on catching up with and, in the case of Tamil Nadu, overtaking Karnataka in these critical sectors. The people of the State certainly deserve a better deal than they have got in the last half-year. Aside from responding to the massive infrastructural deficits of Greater Bangalore, the State Government must give priority to the development of other centres such as Mysore and Mangalore, and also the Hubli-Dharwar region.

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