Ramakrishna Upadhya
Moneycontrol Contributor
Expectations raised by election-eve promises and rumblings of discontent within the cabinet have weighed heavily on the coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy in Karnataka, as it completes one month in office.
Having repeatedly assured "complete farm loan waiver within 24 hours" if voted to power, Kumaraswamy, since taking charge as chief minister, has indulged in a series of flip-flops, maintaining that "conditions apply" to his offer and yet holding out that he will fulfill his promise to the farming community.
Taunted by the BJP to make good his promise, Kumaraswamy’s reactions have ranged from saying that it was conditional upon his party Janata Dal (Secular) getting majority on its own, to discussing the issue with his coalition partner, to pleading with the prime minister to share the burden of loan waiver.
According to one estimate, the loan waiver will cost the government Rs 53,000 crore, which most experts believe will be impossible to meet from the state’s own resources.
Kumaraswamy has asserted that while fulfilling the promise made to the farmers, he will stick to the Fiscal Discipline Act which Karnataka has maintained for several years.
Among other assurances given by the JD(S) in its election manifesto include, raising the old age pension from Rs 500 to Rs 6,000 and subsistence allowance of Rs 4,000 per month to lactating mothers for six months.
Former chief minister and chairman of the coordination committee, Siddaramaiah has not made life any easier for Kumaraswamy by repeatedly contradicting him. Siddaramaiah said since he had presented a "full-fledged budget" before the elections, there was no need for Kumaraswamy to come up with a fresh budget. He was also of the opinion that since his government had waived farm loans amounting to Rs 8,000 crore, there should be no further concessions.
However, Kumaraswamy met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and got his consent to both a new budget and a loan waiver ‘within reasonable limits.’
Government statistics show that 22.15 lakh farmers have outstanding loans in 21 district cooperative banks, 45 lakh farmers have taken loans from 175 primary land development banks and 9.15 lakh women have loans raised from ‘stree shakti’ organisations.
Though the monsoon is active and sowing season has begun, a majority of farmers have reportedly stopped repaying old loans and taking fresh loans for agricultural activities waiting for government’s decision on the loan waiver.
Experts believe that it will be a Herculean task to segregate and cull out the agricultural loans from other types of loans taken by the farmers and also set a cut-off period. Besides, the loan waiver scheme reaches less than half of the state’s farmers as the majority of agriculturists avail non-institutional loans.
Kumaraswamy plans to make an announcement on loan waiver in the revised budget he plans to present to the state assembly on July 5.
The chief minister’s other headache concerns his cabinet as some of the ministers are unhappy with the portfolios given to them.
GT Deve Gowda, who defeated Siddaramaiah at Chamundeshwari, was keen on an important portfolio like transport or excise, but he was entrusted with higher education. CS Puttaraju was also unhappy with the minor irrigation ministry. Both refused to take charge for nearly a fortnight, before Kumaraswamy managed to persuade them to relent.
In the Congress party, MB Patil, HK Patil, Satish Jarkhiholi among others are seething with resentment at being excluded from the cabinet, while DK Shivakumar has entered into a cold war with HD Revanna over promotion to several officials.
The coordination committee which was supposed to finalise the common minimum programme based on the manifestos of both Congress and JD(S), is yet to meet as Siddaramaiah has gone on a 12-day ‘rejuvenation holiday’ to Dharmastala.
Several aspirants for remaining ministerial berths and chairmanship of state-owned boards and corporations are eagerly waiting to taste power, but that too has been put on hold till the assembly session concludes on July 15.
Aware that his government has not really taken off, Kumaraswamy keeps reminding everyone that he is at the ‘mercy’ of the Congress and no decision can be taken without consulting the coalition partner. The only silver lining for his government is that he has a direct access to the Congress president.
The author is a political commentator and a senior journalist.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are that of the author and not of moneycontrol.com or its management.
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