In Karnataka, ‘Swamijis’ are turning into politicians while politicians are queuing behind astrologers. Pejawar Mutt Swamiji of Udupi, who belongs to a Lingayat mutt, is taking an active part in installing a BJP-JD(S) government in the state. He is also prepared to rope in the services of few more Swamijis in the attempt. The corporate media and political pundits are cautioning of a possible ‘backlash’ from the powerful Lingayat community if the JD(S) does not honour its agreement of transferring power to the BJP. One is not sure if they really mean a backlash from a community or from a section of industrial mafias in mining and real estate businesses.

The Congress, once ditched by the very same JD(S) 20 months back, is weighing its options of fresh elections, horse-trading and forming a good old JD(S)-Congress coalition government. It is also keenly watching the national situation to see if there are chances of snowballing into mid-term elections. The party expects a situation of simultaneous elections to the state and the centre to be more beneficial to the party in the state. The Congress is biding time as immediate elections in the state may not go in its favour in the backdrop of its not-so-impressive or poor performance in the recently concluded municipal elections. The Congress is also a little worried of unnecessarily carrying an anti-incumbency factor to the next elections if the coalition materialised.

The BJP -- in spite of a major setback to its lifetime dream project of installing the first ever communal government in the state that is considered to be the gateway of communal politics in the South -- is courting ‘martyrdom’ eyeing a sympathy wave in the future elections to get an independent majority.

JD(S), on the other hand, is conditioned by its so-called secularism that is expected to lead to retaining the Chief Ministership in another round of coalition either with the Congress or with the BJP. Kumaraswamy and his MLAs, inspired by their remarkably improved performance in recent municipal elections, are pinning their high hopes on a piece of master strategy from Deve Gowda to retain the post of the Chief Minister with them.

Hence, Devegowda has come up with five conditions for the BJP aiming to reinvigorate its discredited secular credentials and to keep the powerful lobby of steel mines that call the shots in the form of corruption and murder charges against the Gowda family either through Janardhan Reddy, MLA or Sriramulu, minister of the BJP from Bellary, under control. Hence, they want the BJP hands off from the issue of riots in Mangalore and of the Baba Budangiri in Chikmagalur. JD(S) is also facing a crisis of reconciling the interests of its own immediate base of farmers in Mandya – Mysore region and the larger class interest that the party represents in the era of globalisation, where state policies favour corporate big bourgeoisie in governance. This is self evident in the issue of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor. But Deve Gowda wants only the removal of its MD leaving a whole lot of affected farmers and people in the lurch. In order to offset the effect of BMIC controversy in the overall orientation of state policies, JD(S) offered 7000 acres of land in Nandagudi on a platter to corporate houses in spite of stiff resistance from farmers. Neither the BJP nor the JD(S) had any quarrel in terms of policy, just rival interests of competitive politics representing this or that section of real estate, construction, industrial mafias and corporate houses.

In fact, in the past 20 months rule, the JD(S) has played into the hands of the BJP and the BJP has emerged as the ultimate gainer in the whole exercise in spite of losing its term in the rule. The BJP has cut into the vote-bank of both the Congress and the JD(S). Recent municipal elections are the best indicators. It has played the communal card very effectively in order to cultivate its own brand of politics in the state which was not so influential otherwise. It was evident in the Mangalore communal riots, the arrest of an editor of a secular magazine in Mangalore as a part of suppression of freedom of expression, scores of fake encounter deaths in ‘Naxal’-dominated Western Ghats, attack on Christians, Dalits and progressive intellectuals and so on. The BJP used Baba Budanagiri issue to the hilt in order to use it as a constant source of whipping up communal frenzy in the region. Ananthakumar, MP went to the extent of promising conversion of ‘Bababudangiri’ into ‘Dattapeetha’ if it was voted to power with independent majority. Quite understandably, the JD(S) had no quarrel with the BJP all these months but for sermonising, at times, in order to protect the overall class interests of the bourgeoisie. On the other hand, the BJP has also made much progress in emerging as the darling of the ruling classes in the state, particularly to the industrial and mining mafias and the forces of the new economy. In fact, neither BJP nor JD(S) had any real quarrel over any real issue of policy that affected the social fabric and economic matrix of the society.

Some political pundits in Karnataka are worried over the ‘betrayal’ to the coalition dharma. Unfortunately, many of them tend to forget the larger picture of fundamental betrayal to masses who gave the verdict against the policies of liberalisation in the last elections. They also conveniently forget the politics of class interests that guide any adherence or betrayal to any ‘dharma’ of any variety whether it is religion, politics or coalition. Ultimately, it is the hard economics that determines the hard politics.