BSY quits as Karnataka chief minister: Voters are biggest losers in this drama as a clumsy system openly cheats them

The first lesson from the dismal chaos in Karnataka on Saturday is that there is nothing to celebrate. If anything it is a time for deep introspection because in all this packaging of political personalities and parties the voter has been totally sidelined. In fact, one can go as far as to say that the person who stood in the line and cast his franchise has been openly and blatantly cheated by a system that is clumsy and disregards the wishes of the people.

This disregard is further exacerbated by the interpretation, largely arbitrary, by the pressure from the Centre, the governors and their legal advisors and the judiciary often all these elements at cross purposes. At the end of this grotesque kaleidoscope the pattern so totally eliminates the public shards. Suddenly the people count for little and their choice even less.

Outgoing chief minister of Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa addresses state Assembly on Saturday. PTI

In this current case, the people largely rejected the incumbent Congress party and actually dumped them. Yet, we now see its cadres doing the ‘have-a-ladoo’ act and conducting themselves as if they had brought the bacon home. For sheer delusion this is a scenario difficult to beast. You lost... what part of it don't you see. The JDS that is also now beating a tattoo of huge success got only 38 out of 222 seats which by no mathematical yardstick indicates an abundance of love from the people whom HD Kumaraswamy might now lead by shrieking default to some bewilderingly fuzzy frontier, albeit weasring two different socks.

The BJP that cut through the Congress like a knife through butter but started off on the wrong foot by prematurely celebrating a majority triumph never really got it going after that and, despite coming in first, lost out shabbily to the losers. If the 48-hour-old chief minister BS Yeddyurappa stormed out after his impassioned speech it is tough to feel bad for him because the writing was on the wall at Hour One and the BJP could have played their cards better. In these two days, the chief minister posted several IAS and IPS officers from their positions and where was the need for such unholy haste.

The confusion and disruption these politicians cause is heartbreaking and again it is the public that pays the price.

Just like there are mistrials and then there are second round referendums where the choice is not clear regardless of the cost and the effort elections should be held again and again and again until the public’s mandate is clear. Either that or we must borrow a concept from the Americans and have our elected delegates on the floor of the House empowered not to cross the floor or leave their party but in person to give a vote for or against the single largest party or a vow of allegiance to their. These proceedings should be publicly televised so we know where each individual stands.

What could be tackier than Congress bigwigs running around hotels and inns and residences looking for their lost or missing sheep. These parties even took their MLAs out of the state so that they would not succumb to blandishment, making the Shashi Tharoor tweet about the badge of courage these MLAs showed plain laughable. Perhaps the only thing tackier was P Chidambaram's statement that it is a victory for democracy. Say what?

On this canvas the words of Rahul Gandhi today thanking the people of Karnataka for doing the right thing is simply hilarious. The people of Karnataka were not invited to the party. Can’t the Congress president see that?