Karnataka: All is not well for HD Kumaraswamy as he battles declining popularity

The worse is yet to be over for the HD Kumaraswamy (HDK)-led Karnataka government that performed poorly in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The coalition has decided to continue under HDK in an informal cabinet meeting on May 24. With the rumours of a few MLAs defecting the JD(S)-Congress combine for BJP doing rounds, the tension is palpable in both camps. The friction between long-time rivals Congress and JD(S) is not helping the cause either.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, JD(S) won just one seat in Hassan, a Gowda family stronghold. It lost in all other key constituencies including Tumkur where HD Deve Gowda contested and Mandya, where HDK’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost to actress Sumalatha Ambareesh by a margin of over one lakh votes.

This is a huge blow to JD(S). While it would seem that Karnataka was caught in the Modi wave or ‘TsuNaMo’, as it is called this time, there is probably more to BJP’s victory in Karnataka.

“The JD(S) had it coming,” said a frustrated farmer, who voted for BJP since he did not like the dynasty politics of Gowda family or the attitude of HDK in the last one year.

The shift in Kumaraswamy’s attitude after he took over as the CM in 2018 is glaring compared to 2006 when he first became the CM.

In 2006, Kumaraswamy drove a Toyota and travelled by road extensively to meet people and hear their grievances. Now he rides in a Range Rover SUV and stays in Taj off Race Course Road, Bengaluru despite having government allotted guest house.

His reason: He has to entertain a lot of guests. The monthly hotel bill accounts for about Rs 25 lakh and he has refused to answer opposition's question about who foots the bill.

This is not all. An RTI application filed by Times of India revealed that the Gowda family hired private jets and choppers for temple visits. Also, HDK has been cancelling official meetings on account of temple visits.

Neither party members nor people had taken this attitude well. To make matters worse, in the Lok Sabha elections, JD(S) fielded its own family members in high profile constituency such as Hassan, Mandya and Tumkur instead of senior party members.

Two youngest members of the Gowda family got the Lok Sabha ticket – Prajwal Revanna, son of HDK’s brother HD Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy, HDK’s son.

The angst among the public is obvious. Like the farmer who was not happy, there were thousands of others who shared the same sentiment.

Talking to Moneycontrol, a farmer in Mandya said neither Congress nor JD(S) government did any good for people be it water issues or agrarian crisis.

The election results, thus, is a reflection of poor performance and lackadaisical attitude by HDK and his government. This is what translated into votes for BJP this election.

Unless HDK learns from the mistakes, there is not much hope to regain his popularity. If there is anytime to redeem himself it would be now. Who knows how long the current government in the state will last!