CM must step out of the shadows

When political instability reigns, governance inevitably takes a hit and who would know this better than Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai? Since the day he took over as CM in July last year, Bommai has been facing dissent from within, most of them related to his ministry and its composition.

First there were complaints that the new government did not have representatives from as many as 13 districts. Then there was the issue of portfolios with ministers like Anand Singh and MTB Nagaraj complaining that they did not get the portfolio of their choice and threatening to resign.

All that has been rolled under the carpet after some tough talk by BJP bigwigs in Delhi to get on with the job of administering the state with just a year left for the 2023 Assembly polls. In recent weeks, another set of BJP legislators, who feel they may not stand a chance at the hustings if they do not get a ministerial berth, are going overboard to impress the BJP high command. There have been hush—hush conclaves where demands have been made for a Gujarat like reshuffle when none of the outgoing ministers of the Vijay Rupani ministry were reinducted, and a set of fresh faces made it to the new Cabinet.

The argument is that a stint in the ministry however short it may be, would serve to improve these legislators’ public image and enable them to do a lot more for voters. The legislators, who include the CM’s political secretary, know that it’s now or never with no guarantee of the BJP returning to power in the state and an aggressive Congress playing its cards carefully sensing a chance to grab power.

There is also another troubling question: Do these never ending demands and discord spring from the fact that Bommai is yet to command the allegiance of his cabinet colleagues, so much needed for better governance? Is he still considered a Yediyurappa acolyte, foisted on them just because there was no better alternative? Where does all this frenzied politicking leave people of the state? As the economy slowly recovers from the paralysing effect of the pandemic, as the cheer slowly returns to trade and business, people are hardly concerned about the rejig and have their eyes set on something else- the state Budget to be presented by the CM a month from now.

It’s time Bommai stepped out of the shadows of the past and the shoes of his predecessor and reinvented himself to present a figure of authority and dominance while formulating his Budget. This is so much needed when there are discordant voices in the ruling party. Yediyurappa and Siddaramaiah knew how to brush aside murmurs of dissent sending out a ‘don’t meddle with me’ message which would be enough to send rabble-rousers packing. Bommai would do a lot of good to himself by displaying this assertiveness so much expected of him, as leader of the state.

The CM could also make up for his not so impressive governance in the past by coming up with a promising budget which will light up the faces of people looking for succour in an otherwise bleak scenario. And if he is able to pull it off, it could be the ideal launchpad for him to emerge as a leader in his own right leaving the pulls and pressures of the past behind.