Why Karnataka rejected the BJP https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-karnataka-rejected-the-bjp-8608512/ Janaki Nair . May 15, 2023 Win for Congress presents opportunity to rethink styles of political leadership, reimagine economic development, reinvent democratic norms
perhaps for the first time in the history of the state of Karnataka, civil society groups felt compelled to put aside their aversion to politics and pledge to turf out the party that was mutilating Karnataka’s historical legacies, whether in ensuring social justice (especially but not only under Devaraj Urs), decentralised democracy (especially but not only under Ramakrishna Hegde) or in ending the stranglehold of the dominant asset-owning classes over political representation. To many, the constant refrain of following the “UP model of governance” was a threat, not a promise.
In addition to the groups that had long worked in electoral matters (such as the Association for Democratic Rights), others sprang up. Bahutva Karnataka produced a set of “report cards” on the previous government, reminding voters of the extraordinary alacrity with which it passed legislation related to cattle slaughter and conversion, while openly “contracting” out its law and order functions to vigilante groups.
A movement called “Eddelu Karnataka” (Wake Up Karnataka) enjoined citizens to slough off their (political) slumber, and exercise forethought in the run-up to this election. EK drew on the moral authority of several well-known litterateurs, scholars and activists to set off a campaign blitz that reached deep into rural areas as much as cities. As a result, there was not a little borrowing of ideas and slogans of civil society groups by political parties.
The new government, which has raised expectations among a wide range of groups, can accept the new political consciousness of its people as an asset, and commit itself to new forms of accountability that no longer exist.