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Karnataka: JD(S) denies allegations of BJP alliance, Congress claims govt is ‘strong and stable’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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An alliance is likely between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) in Karnataka, threatening to overturn the recently-elected Congress government. While the Congress party is staying bold-faced and vigilant, the JD(S) has gone on record to deny any such claims.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Tuesday, JD(S) chief HD Devegowda said that there is “no question” of an alliance between the BJP and his party.

“Let me be very clear. There is no question of aligning with anybody. We will fight the battle independently on our own,” the former prime minister said.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: On alleged alliance between JDS and BJP in Karnataka, JDS chief HD Devegowda says, “Let me be very clear. There is no question of aligning with anybody, we will fight the battle independently on our own.” pic.twitter.com/ok1lxJivzl

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2023

Amid rumours of the BJP-JDS alliance, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday also spoke to reporters, assuring them that the Congress government is “strong and stable.”

“They (BJP and JDS) cannot destabilise our government. They are making some political strategy for their political gains but nothing will work,” Shivakumar asserted.

#WATCH | Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says, “They (BJP and JDS) cannot destabilise our government, they are making some political strategy for their political gains but nothing will work. Our government is strong and stable.” pic.twitter.com/dxh3sCDeqS

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2023

According to a PTI report, Shivakumar also brought up the issue on Monday during a press briefing in Bengaluru.

He said, “We will see. We too have certain information. It is their strategy. Instead of doing it in Bengaluru, they are doing it outside.”

Supporting Shivakumar’s assertions, State Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda pointed out the track record of the BJP in overthrowing various elected governments.

Most recently, for example, is the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra where there was a split in both the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party.

Byregowda stressed the need to remain vigilant, calling the BJP’s actions “anti-democratic activities.”

“They have toppled many elected governments. Against this backdrop, we have to be alert. They (BJP) have no sense of good or bad. What all anti-democratic activities they have done is before us and that is what the Deputy Chief Minister would have meant. He might also have some other information,” Byregowda said.

In the recent polls, which took place in May, the Indian National Congress bagged 135 seats of the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The BJP got 66 and the JD(S) only 19, bringing their combined seats to 85. Other parties and independent candidates won the four remaining seats.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Karnataka Gruha Lakshmi scheme to launch in August, taxpaying women cannot apply

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Congress-led Karnataka government will launch the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ scheme on either August 17 or 18. The scheme provides Rs 2,000 financial assistance per month to the women, who are identified as heads of the families.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah recently met with senior government officials to discuss the implementation of the scheme as well as the Gruha Jyoti scheme, which was part of the Congress’ five poll guarantees.

Women, who are heads of the families below poverty line (BPL) as well as above the poverty line (APL) and Antodaya, can apply for the scheme. However, if they or their husband file for GST or pay income tax then they are not eligible for the scheme,

The women also need to be enrolled as ‘yajamani’ which means head of the family, in the BPL, ABL or Antyodaya ration cards. If the woman’s name is not mentioned in the ration cards then they will not be eligible for the scheme.

The applications will open on June 15 for the eligible beneficiaries and will remain open till July 15, following which they will be selected. The women will receive the money in August in their bank accounts.

They can apply for the scheme through an authorised agency or via the Seva Sindhu portal.

Also Read: Karnataka releases guidelines for free electricity and free bus rides for women, check details

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah says govt will implement 5 election promises within 6 months

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced to implement Congress’ five election guarantees within six months. The CM said the cabinet, during its second meeting, discussed all promises thoroughly and decided to roll them out in the present financial year “without any discrimination of caste or religion.”

Siddaramaiah added that the ‘Griha Jyoti’ guarantee, which will provide 200 units of free power, will come into force from Friday.

The ruling Congress party, in the first cabinet discussion, gave in-principle approval to the guarantees and promised to implement all of them in the meeting. Sources in the party, however, told News18 that the government may immediately implement only three of the five poll guarantees — 200 units of free power, 10kg of rice per person in a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family and free travel for women in state-run buses.

The other two promises — Rs 2,000 per month for the woman head of the family and Rs 3,000 for unemployed graduates — may be fulfilled only post the state Budget session.

ALSO READ | Will Karnataka Election results impact 2024 Lok Sabha polls? Here’s what past trends indicate

The plan may give ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party which could protest over “betrayal” and keep the residents of Karnataka waiting.

Already some have started raising their voices against the government’s plan. Karnataka BJP president and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that the Congress should implement the five guarantees it promised before the elections to the people without any further delay.

He said the BJP will take to the streets if the government fails to fulfil the promises without any conditions.

Kateel said the Congress government is now talking about certain guidelines to implement the proposals which were not mentioned during the election campaign. The ruling party is trying to deceive the public, he said.

“The Congress, which offered to fulfil the promises within 24 hours of taking charge, has not implemented the guarantees even after 20 days,” he claimed, adding that the BJP will not remain silent if the assurances are not kept.

Congress’ guarantee in detail

The Congress had said that it will implement these schemes if its government is formed in Karnataka. The party stormed into the Vidhana Soudha by winning 135 out of 224 seats winning an absolute majority. Now it is the Congress’ turn to fulfill its promises after the people reposed their faith in it.

The five guarantees promised are 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

The Congress government has estimated that the implementation of these schemes may cost about Rs 50,000 crore.

“We have announced five guarantees. We discussed them elaborately yesterday. Tomorrow we will take a decision. We have assured that we will give 10 kg rice. There is no second thought about implementing it but I will explain to you after the Cabinet decision,” Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa told reporters on Thursday.

ALSO READ | Karnataka Elections 2023 | Here’s how political parties performed in community-dominated constituencies

Explaining further, he said, “We will implement the guarantees we have promised in a phased manner.” With regard to the Anna Bhagya scheme, he said the state government will ask the Centre and the Food Corporation of India to provide rice to Karnataka.

“In case, they (Centre and the FCI) refuse, we on our own will procure rice through tender or though organisations and distribute it to the beneficiaries,” Muniyappa said.

During elections, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said these schemes will be implemented on the day the government took over. However, chief minister Siddaramaiah after assuming power on May 20 said the government has agreed in principle to implement the guarantees and sought time till the next cabinet meeting.

“We have given approval in principle. We will get details, discuss, financial implications will be looked into and then we will do it for sure. Whatever the financial implications may be, we will fulfill these five guarantee schemes,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after the first Cabinet meeting.

When asked when it will be implemented, he said, “Most likely it will be implemented after the next cabinet meeting,” and added, “Already cabinet decision has been taken. We need to work out details such as its financial implications.”

When asked why these aspects were not looked at before making the promises, the chief minister underlined, “The promises have been agreed upon. We will not go back.” Siddaramaiah said spending Rs 50,000 crore on these guarantees will not be a burden for the state, whose budget is about Rs three lakh crore annually.

Guarantees with conditions

According to some Congress leaders, there will be some conditions attached to these schemes. The Gruha Lakshmi promising Rs 2,000 to the women head of the families is meant for those who are Below Poverty Line. Even the Anna Bhagya scheme providing 10 kg food grains is for BPL families.

Even the Gruha Jyothi scheme offering 200 units of free power is for the economically weaker sections, they said. Regarding the Shakti scheme, Congress leaders said there will be no conditions attached but it will specify in which buses women can travel free of cost.

ALSO READ | Karnataka election results 2023 | The three pillars behind Congress’s rise and BJP’s downfall

An estimate prepared by the BMTC shows that its operational cost itself is over Rs 12,000 crore whereas its revenues are just over Rs 9,000 crore.

This article first appeared here on News18.com.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Karnataka cabinet allocation: CM Siddaramaiah keeps finance, Shivakumar gets Bengaluru development — Check full list

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday allocated portfolios to his deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar and 32 other cabinet ministers. Ten ministers including Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar took the oath of office on May 20 following which the Cabinet was expanded to its full strength of 34 members this past Saturday.

The chief minister kept major portfolios such as finance and personnel and administrative reforms to himself. Deputy CM Shivakumar was given the responsibility of Bengaluru City Development and irrigation.

ALSO READ | Karnataka cabinet expansion: 24 legislators take oath as ministers, all eyes on portfolio allocation now

Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge, was allocated the rural development and panchayat raj department. G Parameshwara, who has previously handled the Home department, has once again been allocated the portfolio.

Former Union minister KH Muniyappa, for whom this is the first stint in the state Cabinet, is the new Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister.

Laxmi R Hebbalkar, the lone woman in the Cabinet, will take charge of the Women and Child Development and the Disabled and Senior Citizens Empowerment portfolios.

Here’s a complete list of the Karnataka Cabinet Ministers 2023-2028:

Voting for the 2023 Karnataka Election took place on May 10 and saw the highest-ever voter turnout of 73.19 percent in the history of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections.

The Indian National Congress got a landslide victory and claimed 135 seats, making it the single biggest party.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

VIEW | Why Congress must thank AAP for its Karnataka election victory, AAP leader writes

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The recently concluded elections in Karnataka have been celebrated by Congress supporters as an endorsement of Rahul Gandhi and his “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, going on to make extrapolations for 2024. However, it is important for parties opposed to the BJP to draw the correct lessons from this election cycle, because drawing the wrong lessons ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election will deliver a drastically different result for the opposition.

 The Karnataka election results have four big lessons: 

> Bharat Jodo Yatra may have had no impact on the electoral outcome.

> Anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was extremely high and people were yearning for change.

>The top issues the electorate was hinging its vote on was economic distress and inflation.

> A welfare model of addressing economic anxieties through broad-based, but direct benefit programs that blunt the sharp edges of inflation has proved to be a winning formula, previously for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi and Punjab and now for the Congress in Karnataka.

The Illusion of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra

Claims of Congress supporters that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had any impact on the election outcome have no basis in data or evidence. Even this Hindustan Times article that established a marginal vote share increase was merely a correlation with no evidence to suggest that the Yatra had anything to do with that vote share increase – as the authors themselves admit.

In fact, data from the C-Voter tracker conducted in the aftermath of the Yatra shows how little of an impact it had on the favorability rating of Rahul Gandhi. The CSDS-Lokniti exit poll shows us that only 37 percent of Congress voters had made up their minds to vote for the party before campaigning began.

The vast majority of Congress supporters, a staggering 63 percent, decided on the eve of the election. In addition, the Yatra passed through the Old Mysuru Region (OMR) where the Congress drew votes away from the Janata Dal (Secular), a factor that has a clear link with its better performance, as opposed to Gandhi’s Yatra.

Also Read:Beyond Binaries: Sidda vs DK— here’s what the new dawn of power in Karnataka has in store for Congress

Anti-Incumbency, Economic Anxieties and Direct Redressal of Inflation

According to the AxisMyIndia exit poll, 10 percent of all Congress voters identified the primary reason for their voting choice being that they wanted to change the BJP government. Nine percent of them said they were voting against inflation, and other nine percent said they were voting for the Congress’ electoral promises.

What were the Congress’ promises? They were an unoriginal lift of the AAP’s manifesto for Delhi and Punjab, as Arvind Kejriwal claimed recently. Even the word ‘guarantees’ which AAP had used in place of the word ‘promises’ was adopted by the Congress. The promise of 200 units of free power, free transportation for women, monthly income for women, and unemployment allowances for the youth—this is the Kejriwal playbook that helped Congress win.

The reason that guarantees of direct benefits seem to go a long way with India’s electorate is that we are experiencing what economist Rathin Roy has characterised as a middle-income trap — where after India’s high-growth decade has given way to a low growth period, people at the bottom of the pyramid (and this is a very flat pyramid) are experiencing significant wage stagnation.

India’s masses are not reaping the benefits of its ongoing economic growth to the extent they may have in the past. As the country figures out its long-term economic direction, and finds new sources of growth, in the meanwhile people are hurting.

This is why they are responding very clearly to promises of “freebies” – not out of greed, but out of a survival instinct. Outside of the immediate benefits for political parties that make this case, expanding incomes of people at the base of the pyramid can also replicate some of the demand-driven growth effects, even if for the short term.

Also Read:Beyond Binaries: Karnataka election results 2023— key lessons for BJP and for the winning Congress too

Implications for 2024

The Congress party’s victory in Karnataka should not be misconstrued as an overwhelming mandate in support of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. Instead, it is a sign that AAP’s model of welfare has caught people’s imagination. Where AAP cannot capitalise on it, other parties may be able to.

It also provides a template for the Opposition for 2024. If at all the Opposition has to defeat the Modi juggernaut, they must develop the muscle to craft policies that address their urgent economic needs, and they will be rewarded. The unfortunate reality is that voters have not responded to ideology as a driver of elections – neither today, nor in the past. Ideology has always been top down, whether in Nehru’s India, or in Modi’s.

Author is AAP Spokesperson and public policy graduate from the Harvard University

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow