Those watching the widening fissures in the ruling coalition in Karnataka will not fail to be struck by one simple similarity. The Congress-JD(S) coalition began to fall apart thanks to the statements of the state Congress president, Janardhan Poojary, a Mangalorean. And the man at the centre of the current row is the state BJP president, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, a Mangalorean.
The coalition partner BJP while disputing the claim of the Chief Minister Kumaraswamy that no appointments have been made to local committees and cooperatives has released a list of nominations made by the JD(S) in this regard. The list is self-explanatory and as clear as day light for anybody to see what is what. The State BJP chief Sadananda Gowda is justified in charging jthat his party workers are being ignored. But Kumaraswamy’s outburst that politically nobody can take him for a ride, that he will not bow before anyone and that he is ready to resign an face elections amounts to bullying and brow-beating his ally the BJP.
Well, this reminds me of a quarrel that ensued between the husband and wife when they were getting ready to attend a party elsewhere. While the husband insisted that she wore the green sari the wife was stubborn that she would wear the pink one. This went on and on for a pretty long time and at long last the couple struck a compromise and hold your breath the wife wore the pink saree! Perhaps Kumaraswamyy wants BJP to accept this kind of compromise(?). I think God alone should save these coalition partners who are like strange bed fellows. Viewed against this backdrop the similarity drawn under ‘Mangloor se aaya mera dushman, dushman ko …’ is well-founded.