Karnataka Congress Power Tussle: BJP Slams 'Governance Failure' Amid Infighting

5 hours ago

This special report focuses on the leadership tussle within the Karnataka Congress, with political consultant Nikhil Jain and Karnataka BJP spokesperson Surabhi Hridikeri debating the issue's impact on governance. The discussion covers the delay by the Congress 'High Command' in making a definitive decision on the Chief Minister's post, which is currently held by Siddaramaiah, amidst apparent factionalism involving Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. Surabhi Hridikeri of the Karnataka BJP stated, 'Ever since this government came to power, 2.5 years, this has been like an OTT serial that's been going on and on and on, taking up media attention, public time, and worst of all, government ministers' mind space'. In response, Nikhil Jain defended the party, asserting that governance remains on track, citing the implementation of schemes like Gruha Jyothi and new infrastructure projects. Hridikeri countered by alleging that factionalism has led to governance failures, including an 'RCB stampede' and stalled projects.

Transcript

00:00Joining me on this broadcast now is Nikhil Jain, political consultant and advocate.

00:04We also have Surabhi Hodigeri, spokesperson of the Karnataka BJP.

00:08Thank you both for your time, Nikhil.

00:10I'd like to begin with you because what we're seeing essentially is, you know,

00:13power games non-stop, a merry-go-round, if you will, in Karnataka.

00:17What's stopping the high command, Nikhil, from taking your call?

00:21But let me start with who is the high command for the Congress?

00:25Akshita, I think the high command in the Congress is a collective decision-making body

00:28that consists of the chairperson of the parliamentary board

00:31and former president of the party, Sonia Gandhi,

00:33the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the former president, Rahul Gandhi.

00:37Also, the president of the party currently

00:39and the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Malik Arjun Kharge,

00:42the general secretary of organisation, KC Venugopal,

00:44and the general secretary in charge for the concerned state,

00:46which in this case would be Randeep Surjawala.

00:48Because I've grown up understanding that high command in the Congress party

00:52is a collective body that represents the national leadership.

00:55And it's not a one-man, you know, one-man show or a two-man show

01:00like in the BJP where it's just Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.

01:02So I feel it's a collective body.

01:04There will be consultations and they would decide how to go forward.

01:07Fair enough.

01:07But the challenge is, Nikhil, where's the consultation?

01:10How many days has this been going on for?

01:12A week plus?

01:13It's been at least a week now of non-stop comments coming in,

01:16you know, all of this bickering, very public statements.

01:19So then why isn't the high command then getting together

01:22and discussing what needs to be done?

01:23Where's the prompt decision?

01:26Akshada, I'm sure that the high command and the leadership of the party

01:29are discussing between themselves.

01:30But these are not things that would be, you know, put out in the media.

01:33And we have the two primary contenders for the post,

01:35the supposed primary contenders, D. Kishiv Kumar and Siddharamaya,

01:38both have come out and said that it is for the high command to decide.

01:41They are putting out everything in the media, by the way.

01:44No, they may be talking about the fact that there are certainly

01:47MLAs from either camps and in fact, multiple camps,

01:50small camps than the two themselves who want their leader to be

01:53the chief minister of the state.

01:54And that's perfectly fine in a democratic party and a democratic setup.

01:57One of my very close friends from Karnataka wants Priyank Khadge

02:00to be the chief minister.

02:01I'm sure there are many who wants BK Hari Prasad.

02:03There is somebody who might want Sati Jhar Kiyoli,

02:05somebody might want Dinesh Kundura.

02:06But that's the point, Nikhil.

02:09That's why it's imperative for the high command to take a pick and say,

02:11look, he is the one.

02:13There's no question of anyone else coming in to be the chief minister.

02:16You can want who you want.

02:18But we have taken our pick and this is it.

02:19And they've not come out with that decision.

02:21Let me also bring in Surabhi right now.

02:23I'll bring in Surabhi, Nikhil, before I give you a chance to respond.

02:26Surabhi, go ahead.

02:27What do you make of what's happening in Karnataka right now?

02:30Look, the Congress says there's a high command.

02:32They will take a decision.

02:33Ultimately, when you look at it, you still have a chief minister.

02:36Sidramaya isn't going anywhere.

02:39You know, the casual attitude with which Nikhil very respectfully explained the situation

02:45was like, it's just another conversation.

02:47It's just something that's happening.

02:49Nothing for us to break our heads about.

02:51Ever since this government came to power, 2.5 years,

02:54this has been like an OTT serial that's been going on and on and on,

02:58taking up media attention, public time.

03:00And worst of all, government ministers' mind space.

03:04It has taken people away from governance, from pressing issues of governance,

03:08and made it into, you know, the Congress Party,

03:11as well as this Congress government's main role has been curtailing factionalism.

03:16Factionalism that has gotten so bad that an RCB stampede happened and people lost their lives

03:21because the CM and DCM could not communicate with each other.

03:24A factionalism that has led to unfair fund release for across Karnataka,

03:30especially accentuating the differences between North Karnataka and South Karnataka.

03:34Governance failure that has led to many infrastructure projects being stopped or halted.

03:39This is the result of factionalism.

03:41This 2.5 years, 2.5 years, November, Karanti, November, Karanti.

03:45That's all we've been speaking about for the last two and a half years.

03:47Nikhil, ultimately...

03:48So, this is not some small decision.

03:50This is not something that we are just, you know,

03:52please, I request you, think about Karnataka as the Bangaloreans,

03:56the Karnataka people who have been having to deal with this lack of decisiveness within the Congress.

04:01Ultimately, from what you're saying, Nikhil, this isn't a good look.

04:04It's not a good look for the Karnataka Congress.

04:06It's not a good look for the government.

04:07It looks like, you know, they've got priorities elsewhere.

04:10Governance is not the top priority because they're busy figuring out, you know,

04:13who should be the chief minister.

04:16Akshita, so my friend from the BJP pointed out that I presented the facts in a manner

04:20as if nothing to do much about it and I was being very nonchalant about it.

04:23I indeed was being nonchalant about it and the simple reason for that is

04:27that whatever infighting or not, whatever Kambazi or not is happening in Karnataka,

04:31the governance is on point.

04:33The government has announced a new IT city to be developed on the outskirts of Bangalore.

04:37Over 115 MOUs have been signed in the past two years, bringing in or at least bringing in a promise of over 6.5 lakh crore worth of investments.

04:45The Grohjoti scheme has been implemented.

04:47Women are being given free bus rides.

04:49A whole number of measures are being taken by the government towards social welfare as well as development and infrastructure.

04:56And that is what a government should be focusing on.

04:58The politicians can keep on fighting about whatever kursi they want, but the government should run.

05:02And in the case of Karnataka, that is running fabulously.

05:04And since I have the pleasure of being, sharing the panel with somebody from the BJP,

05:08might I just ask her, what is the environment minister of the country doing right now

05:11when I am living in a gas chamber in Delhi and Akrita as well?

05:15What is the education minister of the country doing right now

05:17when there are so many paper leaks happening in the country?

05:20Thank you so much.

05:22What happened to the governance there?

05:23Okay, okay.

05:24Surubh, you know, just taking forward what Nikhil is saying, give us examples.

05:27You're saying, you know, there's misgovernance.

05:28Give us examples of it.

05:30Why do you say that?

05:30I appreciate pushing the conversation from Karnataka to Delhi.

05:34That's exactly what the Congress has also been trying to.

05:36Deciding this chief minister of Karnataka, not in Karnataka, but in Delhi.

05:39But the conversation today is about Karnataka.

05:41It's about Bengaluru.

05:42It's about North Karnataka.

05:43It's about Uttar Karnataka.

05:44All of these different regions.

05:46It is not me, Akshita.

05:47It is the Congress MLA's who have come out and said that we are not being given development funds.

05:51It is the Congress MLA's who are accusing the housing minister of having corruption in his own department.

05:57It is the chief minister's economic advisor who said there is a 400 crore sand mining scam.

06:02It is the economic advisor of the chief minister who said that the finance of the state is falling apart.

06:08It's not me.

06:09It's not the BJP.

06:11The fact that, you know, daylight robbery of 7.5 crore happened in Bengaluru just a few days ago.

06:16A decoy incident happened in the middle of Bengaluru and the minister in charge is nowhere to be seen.

06:21He is meeting Naga Saadu, is meeting people in order to get his CM chair confirmed.

06:26This is what the public is saying.

06:28This is not what the BJP is saying.

06:30Look, as an opposition party, it matters very less to me who's going to be the chief minister from the Congress party.

06:36All we ask is that make up your mind.

06:38Decide.

06:39Have you decided on a 2.5 years, 2.5 years?

06:42Nikhil's final response.

06:43It's so what it is.

06:44Let us know who the chief minister is going to be for the next five years.

06:47Let's put an end to this.

06:48Go on with our work.

06:49Nikhil, final response.

06:50Final response.

06:51Why can't the high command pick one leader?

06:54What is the challenge?

06:56I really don't understand that.

06:57It should be forgetting the fact that Karnataka already has a chief minister.

07:01It's not like the state is without a chief minister.

07:03Siddharam is a chief minister.

07:04If indeed there'd be a change in the chief minister, you still have the entire government running.

07:07And I can point, give out a list of 10 different things that the government is doing, right?

07:11I will nowhere claim that there is no crime happening in Karnataka or no scam is happening in Karnataka.

07:15Of course there are.

07:16And they are being tackled.

07:17You mentioned about the RCB stampede.

07:19And do you remember what happened after that?

07:20Heads did roll.

07:21The commissioner was sacked.

07:22Multiple people were taken to task.

07:24An SIT was, not an SIT, but a probe committee was set up.

07:27And all of those actions came into fray.

07:28But what happened when a similar stampede happened in Uttar Pradesh?

07:30The government tried to suppress it.

07:32See, I will nowhere say that any government is running perfectly.

07:34The entire point is that is the government doing enough?

07:37Can they do a better job?

07:38And what I see in Karnataka is that the government is running fairly well enough.

07:42Of course they can do a better job.

07:43But there's always scope for improvement everywhere.

07:46If the tables were turned, Nikhil, and we were seeing this confusion play out in the BJP,

07:51I wonder if you would have been far more critical of what's happening.

07:55On that note, 10 seconds.

07:57On that note, 10 seconds.

07:58And it's very easy to say, Nikhil.

08:0010 seconds.

08:00I'll come to you.

08:01Let's, Surabhi, finish.

08:02I'm making a very fair point, Nikhil.

08:03As an opposition party, I'm saying that, look, it is not my need for me to bother

08:07who becomes a chief minister from the Congress cap.

08:09But as a citizen of Karnataka, as a resident of Bengaluru,

08:12it is absolutely my problem to be stuck between this infighting

08:16and not have access to absolutely good governance.

08:19I'm sorry.

08:19I'm not going to be able to...

08:20Okay, Nikhil, finally.

08:21Final 10 seconds.

08:22Nikhil, let's go to go.

08:22And, Surabhi, I'm glad that you have the space to voice your concern

08:26as a concerned citizen.

08:27And I'm sure you get a good decision.

08:28I will not call you an anti-national or anti-Hindu

08:31for saying D.K. Shiv Kumar was not meeting others.

08:33Why does this conversation have to go to inane places?

08:35I don't understand.

08:35I'll tell you why.

08:36I'll tell you why.

08:37I'll tell you why.

08:38Because this is exactly what I hear from the BJP.

08:40And I will...

08:41Okay, okay.

08:42I'm...

08:42I'm wrapping this up.

08:45I'm wrapping this up.

08:46You've heard from both sides here.

08:48Ultimately, look, chief minister at this point of Karnataka remains Sidra Maya.

08:52But with this constant tussle, is it a good look for the Congress?

08:55Not really.

08:56Because the high command is yet to take a pick.

08:58Sure, it's not one person, as Nikhil says.

09:00Sure, it's a group of leaders, of veterans who have been a part of the Congress.

09:04And yet, there's been no pick, really.

09:06Thanks, Nikhil.

09:07Thanks, Surabhi, for joining us here on this broadcast with your views

09:10of what's really playing out in Karnataka.

09:11I suspect that this is easily going to continue for the next few days as well.

09:15So we look forward to having you in our broadcasts going forward.

09:17We look forward to having you in our broadcasts.

Karnataka Congress Power Tussle: BJP Slams 'Governance Failure' Amid Infighting

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