If one goes by election results, the outcome of Karnataka polls held two-and-a-half years back was nothing short of a benchmark for India’s Grand Old Party. In the six states where presently it is either the ruling party or part of the ruling alliance, it is the south-western state that gave the Congress its best mandate. It had deluded itself, it seemed, that with the 2024 polls coming up, it had overcome its continuing phase of electoral defeats finally, as it beat the NDA alliance comfortably, bagging 140 out of the total of 224 seats that were up for grabs.

However, so typical of Congress, known for its intense groupism and dissidence in state after state, it ensured that its landslide victory in Karnataka ultimately did not result in a smooth transition of power and governance for its new government, which was installed after a thumping voter turnout of 73.84 per cent, the highest ever in the state since its formation seven decades back. Also, it virtually threatened a phase of instability soon after with the two top leaders – Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar – carrying the battle to Delhi and reluctantly agreeing to run the state, with a patchwork formula of power-sharing.

That the patch will come unstuck was not unknown then. Jostling for better political space and continuing with relentless one-upmanship both the leaders kept the survival of the government on tenterhooks, even as the NDA with just 80-odd seats could not muster the strength to pull down the bumbling rivals. Last month, as the power-sharing formula of equal tenure for the two netas spilled over to the public domain, all hell broke loose.

This time, there was no pretence of ‘all is well’ after a point, when the fight turned nasty and each group was seen travelling to Delhi to plead their case and swing the tide in their favour. Meanwhile, the Siddaramaiah government, despite intense opposition from the BJP-led combine, went ahead with its guarantee schemes, which economists felt was the extreme to which populist measures could be taken up by a government, despite being well ensconced in power.

Its record of balancing minority aspirations obviously meant the other side terming it as ‘blatant appeasement’, ensuring it to consolidate the Hindu vote, especially the urban votes in its favour.

Now even after a series of breakfast meetings and closed-door interactions, the gridlock continues.

Of course, the party high command has always dithered even on other occasions, even assuming a posture that the longer the delay, brighter would be the chances of a resolution to the festering problem. No learning lessons have been learnt from the Rajasthan imbroglio when

Ashok Gehlot was pitted against a younger Sachin Pilot. A series of blunders and a miscalculated approach at undermining the people’s choice and pointing accusing fingers at constitutional bodies like the

Election Commission endlessly has not really helped the GOP or its existing top-notch leaders. Yet, without attending to burning issues like the one that is going on endlessly in

Karnataka continues to baffle the party machinery and the supporters, who seem to have given up hope of tasting power in the near future.