Governance on the back burner

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the pictorial exhibition on the life of the former Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on August 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

During the 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress relentlessly accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of charging a 40% commission on state contracts. The campaign worked and the party stormed back to power. Today, the Congress is struggling to fend off similar charges. In the process, the quality of governance has become a casualty in the State.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, have sought to project their government as one that delivers on its promises, especially the five “guarantees” assured to the people before the elections, as well as a corruption-free administration. But just 15 months after being in power and even instituting judicial probes into the alleged corruption under the BJP regime with no tangible outcome, Mr. Siddaramaiah and his Cabinet colleagues find themselves on the back foot. They have even issued full-page advertisements in newspapers to counter the combined onslaught from the BJP and its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S).

Mr. Siddaramaiah is serving his second term as Chief Minister. He has presented a record number of Budgets (15). He also enjoys a reputation of having a grip on governance. However, none of this is helping him as the government seems to be floundering on governance.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has been carrying on a tirade against the Centre for its “unjust treatment” to Karnataka in the devolution of funds. The reality, though, is that the government has little to show in terms of governance or implementation of new schemes. Most of the development and infrastructure projects have come to a halt as the government faces an acute financial crunch, apparently because of the massive cost incurred by it in implementing the Congress’s five poll “guarantees” and having to pay the 7th Pay Commission salaries to its employees from this month. Bengaluru City, which faced an acute water crisis during the summer, is unable to solve traffic congestion and the problem of poor roads and potholes. All this has dented the government’s image.

Even Mr. Shivakumar, who holds the portfolios of Irrigation and Bengaluru Development, has been unable to make any headway in his ‘Brand Bengaluru’ project. He ensured that Ramanagara was renamed Bengaluru South District, arguing that the change in nomenclature would bring in a real estate boom. The continuous war of words between him and Union Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, in a bid to dominate Vokkaliga politics, is not helping matters.

Mr. Siddaramaiah is also caught in a legal and political storm over an alleged scam in the allocation of 14 Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites in an upmarket area to his wife Parvathi, when the BJP was in power, as compensation for the 3.16 acres taken over “illegally” by MUDA. The issue has also resulted in a face-off with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot. All the ministers are involved in protests across the State condemning the Governor’s decision to issue a show-cause notice to, and grant prosecution of, the Chief Minister based on the complaints of three social activists. With the entire Cabinet forced to rally behind the embattled Chief Minister, the focus on governance has taken a further hit.

On the other hand, the ₹187 crore scam in the State Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, which came to light after an employee died by suicide leaving behind a letter alleging irregularities at the behest of his higher-ups, has resulted in the arrest of a dozen people as well as the resignation of Minister B. Nagendra. The involvement of nationalised bank officials has resulted in the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation stepping in. While the government seems to have weathered this storm, the MUDA case could consume a lot of its attention. There has also been constant chatter on interference and corruption in transfers, particularly in the Police Department, with the untimely deaths of two officers linked to it.

As the Siddaramaiah government is busy warding off the taint of the MUDA scam by waging a legal and political battle, the long-delayed elections to the rural and urban local bodies as well as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the civic body of Bengaluru, are hanging in balance. Karnataka, which has a reputation for good administration and governance, needs to reclaim its image.