Opinion: What Karnataka Crisis? Rahul Gandhi And The Art Of Political 'Zen'

The recent air dash to Delhi by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his rebellious deputy D K Shivakumar brought no joy for the beleaguered Congress government in the state.

Rahul Gandhi refused to meet the warring leaders in a clear indication that the high command is reluctant to take sides. It's status quo then with a truce that is at best an uneasy one and may not last.

The power struggle between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar is real and intense amid talk that the two architects of the party's spectacular victory in the 2023 assembly election had agreed to share the chief minister's post on a rotational basis of two and a half years each.

Under this formula, Siddaramaiah should make way for Shivakumar in November this year, when his 'allotted' term ends. However, his assertion that there is no vacancy at the top suggests that he has no intention of handing over the reins of power to his deputy.

Faced with Siddaramaiah's implacability and the high command's disinclination to step in, Shivakumar has little option but to back down. At least, for the moment. Karnataka leaders worry that the ambitious Deputy Chief Minister is only biding his time, and they are bracing themselves for the next round of turmoil.

Remember Rajasthan?

It is strange that the Congress has not learnt lessons from past experience. As a similar experiment in Rajasthan proved not too long ago, rotational power-sharing agreements simply do not work. They only lead to competing ambitions and continuous friction that undermines a government's image and performance record.

The tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and rival aspirant Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, after the Congress won the 2018 assembly election, repeatedly rocked the government. Despite constant turmoil, Gehlot managed to hang on for a full five-year term, Pilot did not get a shot at the Chief Minister's job, and ultimately, the Congress lost the 2023 assembly election to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

There is imminent danger of the Rajasthan scenario repeating itself in Karnataka unless the party takes decisive steps to hammer out an understanding between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, rev up governance, which is currently in shambles because of their rivalry, and crack the whip on both to work for a second consecutive victory for the Congress in the next election.

Missing In Action

Is Rahul Gandhi up to the task? This is a worry that gnaws at every Congress worker and supporter in the state. Karnataka is one of the few remaining Congress strongholds in the country, but the high command does not appear to be seized with a sense of urgency to fortify it.

Rahul Gandhi's laissez-faire style of leadership, his reluctance to engage with ticklish organisational issues, and his propensity to postpone difficult decisions in the hope that the problem will magically resolve itself, only strengthen the impression of a party in a state of drift.

His characteristic aloofness was evident in his rebuff to the two Karnataka leaders who had sought an appointment with him when they flew to Delhi. They wanted arbitration. They got a cold shoulder.

The Congress Of Rajiv And Indira

For Congress rank and file, used to decisive Gandhis, Rahul Gandhi remains an enigma. Contrast his hands-off attitude to the Gandhis that came before him. Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi had a passion for politics and revelled in power games. Both established reputations as formidable leaders who stamped their authority on every step the Congress took. They wielded both the carrot and the stick effectively and kept the party on a tight leash.

Rajiv Gandhi came into politics reluctantly, as a support to his mother, who was shattered by the unexpected death in a plane crash of her son and chosen heir, Sanjay Gandhi. But after he led the Congress to a landslide victory in the 1984 general election, he grew more comfortable.

He lacked the forbidding aura of his mother and brother, but the scale of the 1984 win (the Congress swept more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha) vaulted him to an unassailable position, which he further consolidated with multiple cabinet reshuffles and regular changes in state leadership.

Sonia's Class Act

Sonia Gandhi was an even more hesitant entrant to politics, sensitive about her Italian origin and initially quite lost in the tangled web of the Congress. She fortuitously picked out an effective troubleshooter in Ahmed Patel, who became the party's backroom manager.

He would sit late into the night dealing with organisational problems. His phone line was forever busy, his waiting room always crowded. Congress leaders knew whose door to knock on for a solution, and Patel readily obliged with shrewd cunning.

Why The Indolence?

Rahul Gandhi has big shoes to fill in a party that has high expectations of a Gandhi. Unfortunately, his actions so far give the impression that he wants to shirk his responsibilities and yet have authority. For instance, he has shied away from reading the riot act to dissident Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor in poll-bound Kerala. Although Tharoor was granted an audience - unlike the feuding Karnataka duo - Congress sources say Rahul Gandhi was silent for most of the meeting. Tharoor did the talking and came home none the wiser about his future in the Congress.

He continues to to take pot shots at his party every now and then, but Rahul Gandhi remains impervious to the ripples of embarrassment Tharoor manages to generate through a friendly media.

Rahul Gandhi desperately needs an electoral victory to shore up his image outside and inside the party. Among the upcoming state elections, Kerala is ripe for the picking, and in Bihar, the INDIA bloc should put up a good fight.

All the more reason for the Congress to restore a semblance of stability in crisis-ridden Karnataka. Will Rahul Gandhi step up?

(The author is a senior Delhi-based journalist)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

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