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With Vokkaliga Krishna in the saddle in Karnataka, Congress makes a break with the past

By A Special Correspondent in Bangalore

The Congress high command's decision to appoint former deputy chief minister S M Krishna president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee is a remarkable shift from its pro-active backward sections image cultivated for more than a decade.

This is the first time in 16 years that the high command has handed over the reins of the party in an election year to a person from the major caste group of Vokkaligas, and the first time in more than a decade, after Veerendra Patil in 1988, to the member of a major community.

After promoting only backward class leaders all these years and by conceding a long pending demand of the major caste groups, the central leadership obviously believes that it can make a dent in the monopoly of the opposition parties over the votes of the major caste groups.

And, with its old votebank of backward classes, dalits and minorities clearly returning to its fold after a disillusioning association with the Janata Dal and its miserable performance in power, the central leadership believes that the party's road to Vidhana Soudha, the state's seat of power, has been laid.

Krishna's appointment has been largely welcomed by partymen on record as well as off the record. But there is just that little bit of hesitation from other well-meaning leaders in acknowledging it as a politically correct decision.

A decision which, they believe, would have helped the party garner the votes-in-waiting after the disastrous performance of the incumbent Janata Dal and a possibly raring-to-go combination of Ramakrishna Hegde and the BJP.

The worry of these leaders is not so much the impact on the party. Yes, he can carry all sections of the faction-ridden party together. But, in the larger picture, pitted against rival combinations, whether headed by a Ramakrishna Hegde or a Deve Gowda, these leaders are a little worried .

"A gentleman to the core. He commands respect, but not of the kind that will galvanise the party because he is not known as a hard-working man. His appointment does not assure the party of victory even though the situation is favourable," said one senior leader.

There are a few others, veterans of many an electoral battle, who do not have anything personal against Krishna, but wonder privately if the central leadership's decision is politically correct.

They don't think it will help the Congress much. "The impact will be felt only in a limited area, the old Mysore area (where the Vokkaligas are the dominant community). And, he does not have the image of a leader who is loved by his community," said another senior leader.

These Congressmen argue on the premise that for any party to win the elections, it is necessary that the party have the support of the other major caste group of Lingayats.

During the last decade, after the Congress unceremoniously removed Veerendra Patil from the chief ministership, the Lingayats have either been with the BJP (as in the 1991Lok Sabha election) or the Janata Dal (like in the 1994 assembly polls) or the BJP-Lok Shakthi alliance (vide the 1998 Lok Sabha elections).

To get this major caste group back into its fold, the Congress had the choice of either promoting a Lingayat leader (which it did not have of adequate calibre) or a Lingayat-friendly leader. Krishna has no enemies as such in any community. The question is, how is he going to acquire this image of being Lingayat-friendly.

"Krishna does not have the mechanism to attract the Lingayat vote. He does have friends belonging to that community in north Karnataka (the heartland of the Lingayats) and to a large extent it depends on him as to who are the Lingayat leaders who are going to back him up," says a good friend of Krishna.

One of the major reasons for this scepticism is the challenge that the party and, more particularly, Krishna, has on his hands. On one side, he has to face the challenge from Hegde in garnering the Lingayat votes, particularly in north Karnataka.

On the other, he has to provide a kind of leadership in the Vokkaliga belt that will generate the same enthusiasm as it did for Deve Gowda in the 1994 assembly elections.

Coupled with this is the promotion of Siddaramaiah, state Janata Dal chief and finance minister, by Deve Gowda to attract the votes of the Kuruba community and along with it the other backward classes vote. The Kurubas have always voted along with the Vokkaligas in the old Mysore region.

It is presumed, at this stage, that the internecine quarrels in the Janata Dal and the incumbency factor will make things a little easier for the Congress. But, senior Congressmen point out that the one factor that needs to be watched is Hegde.

"To a large extent it depends upon Hegde. His tour in March will tell us whether he still enjoys the support of the Lingayats. If he still has that hold which helped the BJP in the last elections, then we have an uncertain future," says one senior leader.

Added to this challenge is a personal one for Krishna. As much as he is a gentleman, he is known to keep a distance from the people. "Can he overhaul his image and face the challenge," is the question that some leaders have asked.

The answer is an extremely difficult one. Hegde too was known to be good at parlour politics or the ivory tower level in 1982. A year later, he was the darling of the masses.

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