A surprise coalition government of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) opened its innings in 2018 with the image of almost every Opposition leader on stage, attempting to project a united front before the general elections the next year. Yet, in 2019, the Opposition stumbled, not only across the country, but also in Karnataka, picking up just three of the 28 Lok Sabha seats. The reasons — internal conflict, grassroots contradictions, constant squabbling between leaders, and a listless administration. Fresh from an impressive victory, the Congress takes charge of the government in Karnataka this weekend again. It must take lessons from its experience in 2018 and control dissent in its ranks after successfully resolving a logjam between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar. It will need a plan for mechanisms to operationalise the five guarantees of its poll promise without unduly burdening the exchequer. At the same time, it will need to project a united face and protect its newly formed bases in communities and regions that turned away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this time.
One assembly election can only provide limited cues about national polls. Yet, the victory in Karnataka was important for the Opposition because it represented a triumph in a big, resource-rich state, against the might of the BJP’s juggernaunt. It also sketched the contours of a possibly successful strategy for the Opposition — a mix of welfare, grassroots leadership and local issues. The Congress has done well to resolve the leadership tussle , although the jury is still out on whether it has merely kicked the can down the road. It will now need to ensure that rival ambitions don’t work at cross purposes, and the administration delivers.
