For Karnataka’s Congress government under Chief Minister Siddaramiah, the completion of its first six months in office, has been quite eventful, even tough. This, perhaps, explains the comparatively muted celebrations of the important event, other than a few advertisements in leading newspapers.

In fact, it has been nothing short of a “mixed bag “ for the party which wrested power from an over ambitious and over confident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in May this year; riding on the back of the five ‘guarantees’ or freebies that it had promised the nearly 5.5 crore electorate in the state.

While the Siddaramiah government has much to commend itself for the successful, even if partial, implementation of a major part of the guarantees, availability of funds did prove a constraint. If anything, it clearly indicated that the party had , perhaps, not done its homework well while promising what its fans described as measures for the “welfare of people”, something they argued the Directive Principles of State Policy strive to promote.

This explains why the government initiated steps to raise additional resources by seeking to hike levies on power, properties owned by households, while not ignoring the liquor sector, the perennial cash cow.

In fact, while replying to the state budget in July, the Chief Minister reiterated that action had been initiated to mobilise resources for the schemes through levies and additional loans.

For implementing the guarantees, the government had earlier envisaged an annual budget of around Rs 62000 crore. The requirement for this year though has been comparatively less. The CM stated a figure of Rs 35,000 Crore, largely because the government assumed office only in June, while the financial year commences in April.

Siddaramiah’s woes , however, were not limited to the challenge of delivering the promised assurance, or ‘revdis’ as the BJP termed them. Poor monsoons coupled with the severity of the accompanying drought made matters worse.

The growing demand for the release of the much needed Cauvery waters by neighbouring Tamil Nadu, too , could not be shrugged off. This, at a time when the storage levels in Karnataka’s reservoirs were dipping fast. The state’s farmers were also agitating to prevent the water release to the neighbouring state, if only to ensure their own supply .

These irritants apart, the Congress party faced constant bickering and infighting with some senior leaders openly pushing for the government to have three deputy chief ministers instead of only D. K. Shivakumar, at present. This was nothing but an assertion of their caste clout.

In fact, immediately after the party won the all important election , Shivkumar, on his part, had staked his claim to the Chief Minister’s post. He argued that as the then head of the state party, he was largely responsible for its victory.

The matter did not end here as the Dalit leader, G. Parameshwara, also threw his hat into the ring. Predictably, while Shivkumar got support from his powerful Vokkaliga community, Parameshwara did not lag behind when it came to the backing from his supporters.

The Congress, however, moved quickly to end the controversy by deciding on Siddaramiah as the Chief Minister while appeasing Shivkumar with the Deputy CM’ s post. This arrangement, which is working for now, has not been a smooth one though

The two leaders have often been at loggerheads over several issues, triggering concerns in the party. This headache for the Congress could rear its head again, as is evident from recent developments.

In fact, a few days ago, the Dy. CM startled Siddaramiah by signing a petition by the Vokkaliga community against the government’s proposal to table the caste survey, work on which was initiated in 2013.

Significantly, it was commissioned during Siddaramiah’s tenure as CM . The Congress government, however, did not release the report at that time, as it feared a backlash, to go by a section of the powerful Vokkaliga and Lingayat community leaders’ claims.

In fact, the two dominant communities have come out strongly against this census, claiming that it was unscientific and did not portray the correct picture, even though its contents have not been made public. Yet!

Predictably, Siddaramiah, who is determined to release the report soon, finds himself being pushed to the wall. This, when his party’s central leadership has been pressing for similar surveys in other states.

This apart, earlier this year, Shivakumar went public to say that development works in the state would take a backseat as the government’s first priority was to fulfil its five guarantees. He was responding to complaints from ministers and other party seniors that the state leadership was not entertaining their demands for funds for development works, especially those relating to irrigation, and allied infrastructure like roads which were to be built by the Public Works Department.

The guarantees, incidentally, relate to free power up to 200 units, under the Gruha Jyoti scheme, while Shakti is about free bus travel to women. Similarly, under the Anna Bhagya model the state government has added free five kilograme rice to what is already being provided by the centre.

In addition, the government has rolled out the Gruha Lakshmi scheme which provides Rs 2000 every month to the woman head of a family. The transfer of money to the beneficiaries has been facing technical glitches ,something that the government is trying to correct ,even as the opposition seeks to tear into it.

The fifth guarantee relating to an allowance of Rs 3,000 a month to unemployed youths, is yet to be implemented, obviously because of a cash crunch. During his interaction with the media on completion of six month’s in office, the CM did assert that the scheme would be implemented either by December-end or in January next year.

The cost of three schemes: Gruha Jyoti, Shakti and Gruha Lakshmi, in the six months under consideration came to Rs 2,152 crore, Rs 2,303 crore and Rs 11,200 crore, respectively. Considering that the disbursement under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme is facing some snags, the actual amount, ultimately, could be much more.

This apart, the government has hit a roadblock while seeking to provide its part of the rice to the people under the Anna Bhagya scheme. It holds the Central government responsible for not releasing the required rice.

Undeterred, the state government is paying Rs 170 per person every month, to the households concerned, to make up for its inability to provide the guaranteed rice.

These difficulties apart, Siddaramiah was quick to add that “the government’s New Karnataka Model was a testament to its commitment” to empower the state’s people.

The cue, incidentally, has now been picked up by his party’s central leadership. This is evident from its guarantees offered to the electorate in the states which have gone to the polls this month.

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