WHAT THE MALAYALAM MEDIA NOW SAYS ABOUT KARNATAKA: CRIME, POPULISM AND A CONGRESS AT WAR WITH ITSELF

 Over the past month, Malayalam media commentary has painted a stark picture of Karnataka — a state troubled by rising crime, strained by costly welfare schemes, and destabilised by fierce factional rivalry within the ruling Congress.

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Malayalam newspapers, online portals and weekly magazines have followed Karnataka with unusually sharp attention in recent weeks. Their collective assessment is blunt: the state is wobbling. Law-and-order failures, a treasury stretched to breaking point, and open internal warfare within the Congress dominate their narrative.

On law and order, Malayalam commentators highlight a pattern of high-profile crimes and a police force seen as increasingly tentative. Several reports suggest that the government’s responses appear defensive, more concerned with denying decline than addressing it. This sense of drift is contrasted with Karnataka’s earlier reputation for administrative discipline, creating a tone of disappointment across editorials. As some writers note, the impression is not of an overburdened system but of a distracted one.

The second major theme in Malayalam coverage is the financial strain caused by the Congress government’s expansive guarantee schemes. Writers frequently argue that while the guarantees may have generated electoral goodwill, they now threaten the state’s fiscal stability. Commentaries warn that development expenditure is slowing, contractors remain unpaid, and capital projects are quietly being postponed. In Kerala — a state that itself grapples with debt — Karnataka’s trajectory is often cited as a cautionary example of welfare without guardrails.

Threaded through these discussions is the most politically damaging storyline of all: the rivalry between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar. Malayalam media portrays this not as routine competition but as an entrenched power struggle paralysing the government. Analysts describe a dual command structure where both leaders operate independently, each trying to consolidate influence while undercutting the other. This, they suggest, has sapped administrative coherence and contributed directly to the government’s perceived vulnerability.

Some Malayalam columnists argue that the Congress high command’s reluctance to intervene has worsened the situation. Siddaramaiah is depicted as bearing the burden of fiscal criticism and governance fatigue, while Shivakumar is viewed as impatient and increasingly assertive. The resulting tension, they say, has filtered down to the bureaucracy, which now hesitates to act decisively for fear of political backlash from one camp or the other.

Taken together, the Malayalam media’s assessment is consistent and unsparing: Karnataka’s challenges are not isolated incidents but interconnected symptoms of political disunity, economic overreach, and administrative drift. If these trends continue, Malayalam commentators warn, the state may soon face a far deeper crisis than the Congress leadership currently acknowledges.

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