WHEN POWER FLOATS, GOVERNANCE SINKS: KARNATAKA DRIFTS

 Karnataka today is not facing a dramatic collapse. It is facing something quieter and more dangerous. The state is being governed by a floating government. Power exists, but authority does not settle. Decisions are delayed. Responsibility is blurred. Administration limps along without direction.

The root of the problem is political uncertainty at the very top. The unresolved rivalry between the Chief Minister’s camp and the Deputy Chief Minister’s camp has drained the system. Every few weeks, the struggle for the Chief Minister’s chair resurfaces. Then it subsides, only to return again. Governance cannot function in such cycles. Bureaucrats wait. Files move slowly. Nobody wants to take risks when the future leadership itself looks uncertain.

The recent trip to Delhi exposed this drift. Almost the entire political leadership shifted from Bengaluru to the national capital for a “high command” dinner. There was no administrative urgency. Worse, the meeting produced no introspection. The party’s Bihar debacle went unexamined. The Chief Minister’s absence from the dinner only underlined internal cracks. It was a gathering heavy on optics and light on purpose.

Back in the state, the Chief Minister claimed that no government has done more for the people of Karnataka. Such claims sit uneasily with reality. The state’s finances are under severe strain. Guarantee schemes were launched rapidly and generously, but without a clear fiscal roadmap. The treasury has been stretched thin. Salaries are delayed. Vacancies are mounting. Recruitment has slowed to a crawl.

The impact is visible everywhere. Hospitals function without adequate staff. Schools operate intermittently. Government offices remain open, but work often does not move. Roads across the state are in poor condition. Public works have stalled. Against this background, the Home Minister’s remark questioning the value of good roads in fighting poverty sounds disconnected with people. Infrastructure is not charity. It is the foundation of growth and dignity.

Even welfare schemes are showing stress. Beneficiaries of the Griha Lakshmi scheme are protesting delayed payments. Welfare loses meaning when it is irregular. Delay destroys trust. Promises without delivery quickly turn into resentment.

The larger concern is philosophical. Governance has been reduced to intent and identity. Outcomes matter less than slogans. The legacy of   B.R. Ambedkar is frequently invoked, but his core ideas are ignored. Ambedkar believed in strong institutions, fiscal responsibility, and constitutional discipline. He did not believe in permanent improvisation or administrative paralysis.

Karnataka does not lack resources or mandate. What it lacks is steadiness. The government appears active in speech but static in action. It is visible, yet ineffective. This is not collapse. It is drift. And drift, if left unchecked, slowly turns into failure.

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