The old saying that victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan holds good for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Karnataka unit. The party’s poor performance in the Assembly elections has deepened the internal divide. More than two months since the poll results were announced, the BJP is yet to choose the Leader of the Opposition.
The fundamental problems of the BJP’s Karnataka unit are lack of cohesion and groupism. Until the elections, the powerful central leadership had ensured that these issues were not out in the open. But the results shattered the image of the BJP central leadership as being “invincible”. When several leaders, including MLAs and MPs, publicly began blaming one another for the party’s defeat, the problem of groupism was exposed.
Embarrassed by this, the party leadership finally identified 11 leaders who were indulging in mud-slinging and entrusted party veteran B.S. Yediyurappa with the task of making them fall in line. The public smears have been contained to an extent now. However, the fact that camp feud in the party are worsening is visible in the BJP’s inordinate delay in choosing the legislature party leader, who will go on to become the Leader of the Opposition. The Budget session of the State Legislature has been held for six days so far, without a Leader of the Opposition. Meanwhile, the Congress, which has formed the government, has seized the opportunity to comment on the sorry state of affairs in the rival party.
