Mr CM, stop crying and get on with the job

Having become chief minister despite his party finishing a poor third with roughly one-sixth of both the vote share and seats, H D Kumaraswamy should be one of the happiest people in Karnataka. Apparently, he is not. Not only is he not exactly pleased about being the CM, he often reminds people how the burden of running a coalition government is too much to bear for an emotional man like him.

In one of those characteristic tearful moments, he recently likened his situation to that of Lord Shiva who had to swallow poison to save the universe. Later, defending his outburst and clarifying, though unconvincingly, that the ally Congress was not the reason why he finds his crown full of thorns, he said he has an emotional breakdown whenever something goes wrong and blamed his troubles on one section of society—he didn’t specify which—that is not allowing him to work.

Something doesn’t add up here. The fact is the coalition government has the numbers to keep going and do what it intends to do. And the evidence so far suggests the Congress is doing everything possible to keep the coalition alive, even at the cost of its pride and political relevance. Kumaraswamy and his party had their way in most matters concerning the government—from ministry formation to budget announcements. He was even allowed to implement the farm loan waiver, his most generous—and potentially debilitating from the economy perspective—election promise.

Emotional factors aside, the CM has everything going right for him. It is difficult to understand how one section of people can cripple him and pose so many problems that he has to shed tears in public. As CM, he represents all sections of society, and so can’t complain about any. And he has the power to ignore individuals who don’t let him work and move on, if he has the will. But if his tears have a bigger political purpose, he is not being true to the position he holds. As everyone else does, Kumaraswamy has a choice. If he intends to continue as CM, he must stop shedding tears and get on with the job at hand.