GAME OF THRONES

The rotational chief ministership idea collapsed in Rajasthan in acrimony and rebellion, it was sabotaged at the last stretch in Chhattisgarh, why would it work in Karnataka?

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If there was a contest for scoring political selfgoals, the Congress would almost certainly strike gold. The Karnataka 'nataka' or 'Game of Thrones' has kept the news wheel churning for weeks.

Kaun Banega Mukhya Mantri, DK Shivakumar (DKS) or Siddaramaiah (Sidda), is only the latest Congress political soap opera being played out in full media glare: even the breakfast menu at the meetings between the two leaders has been dissected in some detail. Ambitious regional satraps and a weakened high command are a potent mix for creating a rather messed-up, spicy Kannadiga thali. So who is responsible for the growing perception of drift and chaos in the Congress' one last remaining large state fortress?

Let's start with the highly skilled Bengaluru power players first. DKS and Sidda are like chalk and cheese. The former is a quintessential party strongman, resourceful and rumbustious in equal measure. DKS' swagger has a Big Boss look to it, an astute deal-maker who doesn't hide his vaulting ambition in any false piety. Sidda, on the other hand, is the old-style neta, much more cautious in his moves but very crafty at the same time. Where DKS won't hold back from speaking his mind, Sidda chooses to couch his monosyllabic interventions in ambiguity, carefully designed to keep his opponents guessing all the time.

In an ideal world, the Congress would have found space to accommodate both leaders relatively amicably. But these are far from good times for a moth-eaten Grand Old Party, its once insatiable appetite for power and conflict resolution now sapped by years of inertia and ineptitude. Take for example the idea of a two and half year each rotational chief ministership. It is, frankly, a bizarre concept, one that is mostly unworkable in the Indian context. No one leaves any 'kursi' voluntarily in this country. The