The 21-day national lockdown and fear of COVID-19 appear to have resulted in “suspension of politics” of sorts by all parties in the State.
All major contentious issues — be it the National Population Register (NPR), Cabinet reshuffle, alleged attempt to replace Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa by some dissident group of legislators in the BJP, or the government’s plan to hold elections to 6,000-odd gram panchayats — have been put on the back burner.
There is silence on the part of principal Opposition Congress too. On March 11, the State Congress got a new president D.K. Shivakumar, after a wait of nearly three months. Though Mr. Shivakumar is discharging his responsibilities as the KPCC head, he has not been formally anointed.
A symbolic gesture of handing over the party flag from MLA and former KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao to Mr. Shivakumar is on hold. He will take oath only after the situation returns to normal. Even then, it may be without much fan fair, said sources.
In aid work
All political parties have been largely focussed on seeking funds from donors to fight COVID-19. Many leaders across parties are even involved in distribution of food for free to the poor. The Chief Minister too set up his own relief fund.
R.S. Deshpande, economist and former director of ISEC, Bengaluru, argued that COVID-19 will leave its imprint on the idea of politics and public policy/finance. It would ensure substantive shifts in public policy and set a new agenda of governance with larger focus on spending on improving health infrastructure rather than repairing buildings, buying vehicles or constructing bridges. In fact, many development works could be hit for the next two years at least.
With social distancing likely to become a routine practice in the coming days, particularly among the middle class, it is believed that politicians would use digital tools to reach out to their voters and supporters.
Already, in the lockdown period, politicians/political parties have stopped holding press conferences. Leaders and parties have started logging into social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to share information with the media and the public. Some have even started the traditional letter writing. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Congress leader H.K. Patil wrote letters to the Chief Minister to draw his attention on crucial issues related inter-State border and health, respectively.
Consult, collaborate
P.S. Jayaramu, retired professor of political science, Bangalore University, argued that parties indulging in accusations would not help the public in this moment of health crisis. The Central government on its parts should have taken the Opposition into confidence in finalising its responses to face the pandemic. “It is not too late for our political parties to come together and work to meet the challenge,” he said.