Karnataka is home to most of the poor among the country’s relatively well-off southern states. To be precise, about one-fifth of the total population in the State lives in poverty as per the latest economic survey.
These are 2009-10 figures, but with the economy slowing down, the number of people living in poverty must have gone up further.
Let us look at the other economic indicators which tell us how the State is run:
the farm sector is expected to achieve a negative growth of 2.9 per cent compared with the previous year’s growth of 5.9 per cent; foodgrain production will be 15 lakh tonnes less than 2010-11 output.
industry growth is expected to nearly halve to 3.6 per cent.
There will be enough people in the government, at least in the finance department, who will argue that other states in the country are worse off than Karnataka and one should not look at numbers in isolation.
The huge divide
But it is not just the numbers that present a dismal picture. The fact that Bangalore is the Silicon Valley of India is well known but it is a way too old story now. It is a bit of a let-down that the successive governments haven’t thought of using this success story to generate more of such successes in other sectors.
The neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are fine examples of how local governments have used the available resources to project other towns in their respective states as key investment destinations. In the case of Karnataka, there is such a huge divide between the northern and southern parts of the State, that both the regions could as well be two different states.
If Karnataka has not exactly been putting up an outstanding performance, the fault, critics will tell you, lies with the political party which runs the state. Let us now look at their performance:
the State Cabinet can accommodate a total of 34 ministers, but so far only 23 of them are part of the cabinet. In a country where every other person aspires to become a minister, the BJP-led Government has been unable to fill up 11 vacancies.
such a scenario has meant that the current Chief Minister, Mr D. V. Sadananda Gowda is burdened with as many as 20 portfolios, perhaps one of the highest among all chief ministers in the country.
since the BJP came to power in the State in 2008, a total of nine ministers have resigned over one controversy or the other though early this week; one of them returned to the cabinet after the advocate general who reports to him, exonerated him of any wrongdoings.
former chief minister and the ruling party’s leader, Mr B. S. Yeddyurappa had to step down from his post after he was indicted by the Lokayukta for accepting money in certain land deals.
another former Cabinet Minister, Mr G. Janardhan Reddy, is facing a CBI probe and cooling his heels in jail.
The cumulative effect of such developments has paralysed the state administration and even a severe drought in north Karnataka hasn’t shaken up the government to act fast. About 123 taluks, out of a total of 176, have been declared drought-hit and except for seeking funds from the Centre, the Chief Minister has been unable to deal effectively to control drought.
Even though the Chief Minister keeps claiming that in spite of carrying such a heavy burden of portfolios, the administration has been running smoothly, the economic numbers don’t support his claim.
Differences within party
Mr Gowda became the chief minister after Mr Yeddyurappa was forced to resign from the post in July last year. He was in fact a candidate of Mr Yeddyurappa himself, but has ironically has not been able to get his support for running the Government.
What it has meant is that the rebellion inside the party keeps growing while the party High Command hasn’t a clue on how to tackle this menace. The State Cabinet itself has several senior ministers who still owe allegiance to Mr Yeddyurappa and aren’t exactly well disposed towards the current chief minister.
Not being a mass leader either, Mr Gowda has not been able to cobble together his own band of supporters who can counter Mr Yeddyurappa’s growing nuisance in the party.
Karnataka’s politics largely operates on caste lines, sometimes even cutting across various party affiliations.
At present, the BJP is the only party in the state which has a powerful leader from the Lingayat community, which is the predominant caste in the State. And that leader happens to be Mr Yeddyurappa himself.
Alienating him would mean shutting doors on a huge vote-bank which the BJP can ill-afford at this moment as the assembly elections are less than a year away.
What such squabbles have done to the party’s image is an altogether different issue, but what it has done to the State’s economy is something is something far more serious and its people will have to pay a heavy price for the party's omissions.
If things don't change fast enough, the next economic survey's report could show more minuses than pluses..