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Looking ahead in Karnataka

After having secured the backing of six independents, the Bharatiya Janata Party government headed by B.S. Yeddyurappa was assured of majority support in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly. Still Governor Rameshwar Thakur did the right thing in insisting that Mr. Yeddyurappa go through the motions of a confidence vote. The BJP, which ended up three seats short of a majority in the elections and acquired the support of independents later, should have been happy to move a con fidence vote and demonstrate its majority. Instead, the party needlessly kicked up a debate over whether the Governor should indeed have asked the new government to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly before agreeing to address a joint session of the two Houses. A party that forms a government with support obtained post-election will necessarily have to prove its strength on the floor of the Assembly as soon as possible. Letters of support from the independents persuaded the Governor to call the BJP to form the government but these were no substitute for the demonstration of support through a floor test.

Now that the trust motion is out of the way, Mr. Yeddyurappa should concentrate on the tasks of governance at hand and address the broad concerns of the people. The wafer-thin majority means the government would be under pressure from different interest groups within the BJP and outside. The new Chief Minister will have to be wary of mining lobbies, which have never hesitated to use money power and muscle power in trying to influence government policies and actions. Allaying public concerns over the clout of private players in the land development and infrastructure projects, especially in and around Bangalore, should also be among the top priorities. Mr. Yeddyurappa must be acutely conscious that Karnataka, like the rest of the country, is not immune to the evolving agrarian crisis. Farmers are caught between the rising input costs and the never-diminishing risks of crop failure; some of the first steps of the new government should be directed towards alleviating their sufferings. No BJP government can be expected to completely set aside the Hindutva agenda, but Mr. Yeddyurappa would do well to remember that he owes his success to his years in the opposition taking up people’s causes. Although Hindutva has manifestly been at its core, the BJP grew in Karnataka by presenting itself as a viable alternative to the Congress and not primarily by fomenting communal tensions. The new government should live up to the expectations of its broadened support base, and not be driven by the narrow agenda of a small core group that clearly belongs to the past.

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