Cong grapples with leadership tangle amid delay, doubt

The inordinate delay in the Indian National Congress reaching a consensus on a nominee for the chief ministership in Karnataka casts doubt over the party’s central leaders’ ability to demand compliance from state units and the party cadres overall. The party is yet to take a decision over who among the two principal contenders i.e., Mr. Siddramaiah and Mr. D. K. Shivakumar, would lead the party’s government despite passage of three days since it gained the landslide majority at the crest of a popular wave in May 10 Assembly elections. The new members of the legislature party which met on May 14 in Bengaluru, had in a one-line resolution authorized the High Command to decide the question as to who would be the chief minister. The high drama has since then shifted to New Delhi. Yet, with both the claimants refusing to resile from their claim, long simmering tussle between the two leaders has reached a climax.

The tug-of-war between the two leaders for the chief ministerial position was in public knowledge since long. That party could put up a united face all through the various stages of nominations and electioneering was no small feat. Even the fact that the party had several tall, seasoned and experienced leaders to lay claim to the top post is also worthy of credit for the Congress which has faced serious drought of worthy individuals elsewhere. But intervention by several top leaders seems to have failed to yield any positive result so far. It is quite understandable that a party out of power for nearly a decade at the Centre should undergo trepidation in foisting its fiat on the State unit, hence the attempt to walk an extra mile in prising out a compromise formula.

Meanwhile the credentials of the two leaders have been discussed by the media and all those who matter within the party in minutest detail. TV channels have tired out of exercises in SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analyses.

The delay is symptomatic of the internal state of the Congress Party grappling with a serious crisis of confidence. The impressive victory of the party in the state has though boosted the morale of the ordinary Congressman, the difficulty of the High Command to come to terms with the leadership question is reflected in the dithering observed in issuing a fiat.

It will be better for the party to exercise patience and persuade the warring leaders to resolve the leadership tangle in an amicable manner before the taste of victory begins to turn bitter.