In Karnataka's CM race, BJP must not forget how Congress' past came back to haunt it
Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala invited BS Yeddyurappa to form the government stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the single-largest party in the state elections.
The Congress has cried foul over the development saying that despite the Janata Dal Secular-Congress alliance having more MLAs, they were not invited by the governor to form the government, who acted in a partisan manner.
Reacting to the charge, BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded the Congress of its own "dubious past". He said the Congress didn't have the moral right to question the governor now over his actions.
I want to point out the same through the philosophy of karma in Hinduism - what goes around, comes around. Congress' karma in using the governor's office to dismiss Opposition parties and governments in several states has now backfired on the party.
But what is important to note here is that while attempts at horse-trading might have helped parties gain temporarily, in the long run, people involved in such practices have had to pay a heavy price.
BJP has a lot to learn from the past. Here are some of the examples for the party from history.
Kerala, 1957
The first elected communist government to come to power in India was in Kerala under the leadership of EMS Namboodiripad. The year was 1957. The then Congress government at the Centre dismissed the government in 1959 under the pretext of liberation struggle.
Sources claimed that the influence of US intelligence agency, CIA, was also the reason behind Congress' decision to dismiss the government. Namboodiripad was opposed by an organised opposition, which included the Catholic Church in Kerala, Nair Service Society and Indian Muslim League, backed by the Indian National Congress. This was the first regionally formed government in a state of India which didn't have the Congress in power.
Outcome
After dismissing the communist government, Congress did come to power with the support of the Praja Socialist Party but couldn't reduce the presence of communists in Kerala. Kerala has remained a communist bastion since then. Namboodiripad became the chief minister again in the late 1960s under a coalition government and served a term of around two-and-a-half years.
Andhra Pradesh, 1984
The first non-Congress chief minister of AP was NT Rama Rao of the newly formed Telugu Desam Party in 1983. Suddenly, in 1984 when Rama Rao was abroad for a heart surgery, Indira Gandhi through the then governor dismissed the government. The then finance minister, N Bhaskar Rao, claimed he had the support of majority TDP MLAs and it was accepted by the governor.
Upon his return post his surgery, Rama Rao staged claim to the chief minister's chair saying unconstitutional methods were used to dismiss his government. The governor, Thakur Ram Lal, didn't budge. He was finally was replaced with Shankar Dayal Sharma after which Rama Rao was reinstated as the chief minister.
Gujarat in 1996 and Vajubhai Vala
Suresh Mehta was the chief minister of Gujarat in 1996 when Shankersinh Vaghela of the BJP claimed he had the support of 40 MLAs. The then governor asked Mehta to prove his majority on the floor of the house but before that could happen Opposition MLAs exchanged blows in the Assembly following which the United Democratic Front government at the Centre entered the fray.
Deve Gowda, the then prime minister, recommended dismissal of the Mehta government and sought President's Rule in the state. The then president Shankar Dayal Sharma signed the order. Vajubhai Vala, then a minister in the state, lost his ministry.
Then senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had cited that PM Deve Gowda had betrayed him even after assuring that the Centre wouldn't intervene into the affairs of Gujarat.
Karma bites again
In Andhra Pradesh, Rama Rao came back to power in 1984 and till date his party Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has remained the most dominant party in the state with Congress nearing extinction in the state. Even in the newly formed Telangana, Congress has an insignificant presence.
The same happened in Gujarat, Shankersinh Vaghela joined the Congress after betraying BJP but could never become the chief minister again. The BJP has since then been the party winning Gujarat and gave rise to current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Congress has been restricted to a marginal role in the state.
1993: JMM bribery scam
This could well have been the first scam where a group of members of Parliament from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) were accused. On July 28, 1993, JMM MPs along with Janata Dal, cast their votes to defeat the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha against the then coalition government of PV Narsimha Rao.
Outcome
The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a case against the MPs after reports by media regarding the scandal. The judgement came in 2014. However, the Supreme Court decided to take a fresh look at the case since the matter was high-profile and controversial. The court granted immunity to the accused MPs who had accepted bribes to vote and save the Narsimha Rao government. Rao who was called the champion of liberalisation of Indian economy couldn't get a second chance while Congress couldn't come to power for the next two decades till 2003. When it came to power, it was with the support of a number of allies.
Maharashtra, 2000
In the year 2000, the Shiv Sena-BJP combine occupied the Opposition benches and it was then that an attempted coup to overthrow the Vilasrao Deshmukh government was spearheaded by the then Sena leader Narayan Rane. Around eight to nine Congress-NCP MLAs were abducted by Rane and his men to overthrow the Deshmukh-run Congress-NCP government. Somehow one of the Congress MLAs managed to flee and the attempt failed.
Outcome
The attempt invited a severe backlash. Not only did the Congress-NCP alliance return to power in 2004 and 2009 but even in 2014 elections, Sena was reduced to a much lesser margin and could gain votes only because of the Modi wave and being in coalition with the BJP.
Narayan Rane, the man behind the year 2000 plan, dreamt of becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra then defected from Sena in 2005 and joined Congress. He had to quit Congress recently after which he wanted to join BJP but had to settle only with a Rajya Sabha berth after announcing his own political outfit.
Moral of the story
The men behind such constitutionally immoral attempts - whichever party they came from - have suffered political obscurity. Their parties too have suffered in the process.
People's mandate does matter and this addition, subtraction, defections lead to loss of credibility among the general voters. Contrary to popular belief, voters do not have limited memories. When the time comes, they make their voices and votes count.