The Collusion of Karnataka's Congress Govt in the Economic Project of Neoliberal Hindutva

The relative decline of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the overwhelming recuperation of the opposition in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections has naturally brought in a much-needed respite to the democratic forces in the country.

But, Modi 3.0 seems to be in the mood for a brutal continuity.

Modi’s denial of even a moral defeat stems from the global context where almost all the elections held in the ‘democratic world’, as it were, swept away the incumbent party (France and the UK being the recent ones). In contrast, Modi survived but cut to size. This year more than 60 ‘democratic’ countries are facing elections under gloomy national and global economic scenarios, and the consequent social and political crisis. Thus most of the incumbent governments Left, Centre and Right alike are facing the resentment of the electorate.

But in the absence of or weakness of real anti-capitalist socialist alternatives, the capitalist hegemony and neoliberal consensus continue irrespective of a change of guard. On the other hand, the far-Right forces have been gaining legitimacy by marginalising the Centrist and Left of the Centre forces and their narratives.

Even in England and France, the changed political nature of Labour and the increasing legitimacy of far-right in France, despite surprising electoral results, substantiate the Rightist wave sweeping Europe because of the unchallenged hegemony of neoliberal capitalism and right-wing politics and ideology. This political predicament is the making of the Left and Ceentral-Left parties, which have failed to offer real and democratic solutions to the political and economic challenges that the people are facing.

Thus, unlike the Western electoral current, Modi’s third shot at power, though with a declined strength, in India explains how deep-rooted the Indian variant of fascism in its neoliberal Hidutva form and how weak the alternative is despite its recuperation.

While the Congress might be trying for rejuvenation by rediscovering itself under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, until and unless it achieves a radical rupture from its past neoliberal economic vision of which Modi is the aggressive version, its Soft Hindutvadi Brahmanical social vision which has evolved into Modi’s aggressive Hindutva and its inherent authoritarian and elitist culture which Modi has institutionalised now.

But the Congress, for what it has been, a capitalist and Brahminical party of the social and economic elites, is not showing any such inclination though sometimes a Bharat Jodo or Rahul Gandhi’s speeches and its Nyay Manifesto look different and kindle hopes among the weak. But the Sam Pitroda episode during the election and the way he was sidelined along with his redistributive economic vision for example by P. Chidambaram, the head of the manifesto group in Congress, says volumes about the party and its deep inclinations and neoliberal agendas.

That the Congress cannot change and has not changed even under the threat of fascist onslaught on the country is made amply clear in the states especially where it is ruling as in Karnataka. The Soft Hindutva worldview that legitimises Hindutva, the unapologetic neo-liberal attack on the people notwithstanding the Guarantees, the authoritarian and elitist administration, incorrigible infights and shadow understanding with the BJP to curb the opponent, etc., has already provided ample opportunity to the BJP to regroup and stage a comeback after its drubbing in 2023 assembly elections.

That the BJP, which got 36% vote share and 65 seats out of 224 in the 2023 assembly election, could get 17 seats of 28 Lok sabha seats with 46% vote share with a lead in more than 140 assembly constituencies itself explains a lot about the efficacy of Congress as an ally in the fight against fascism which many in the civil society are still believing blindly.

A deeper account of what is happening in Karnataka under Congress would clearly explain the serious limitations of the neoliberal Congress party in fighting neoliberal Hindutva and also the limits and contradictions that the Congress-aligned civil society groups face in their romantic engagement with the Congress to fight BJP.

Let’s start with understanding the collusion of the Congress government in the economic project of neoliberal Hindutva despite its emphasis on safety net measures of Guarantees.

Guarantee losing warranty?  

Take for example the Guarantee schemes which rode Congress to power in the 2023 assembly elections. The government had assured that it would mobilise the required resources to finance the same (which was estimated to cost around Rs 52,000 crore, a third of the state’s own resources) by plugging the wasteful administrative expenditures, preventing corruption, increasing tax revenue and nontax revenues. But the state had to resort to huge loans to finance both the Guarantee and non-Guarantee expenditures which had become inevitable in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Apart from that it had resorted to diverting the resources from the Schedule Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan towards the guarantee schemes. It faced token resistance by the Dalit organisations due to the misconception that its opposition to Congress might be used by the BJP, a real main enemy. However, the Congress government made use of this principled dilemma of the civil society groups and did not fulfil its promise of reverting the money to targeted expenditure on Dalits.

While it is true that after the Good Services Tax (GST) regime states are left with few resources (like stamps and duties, excise, and taxes on petrol and diesel) and that the Karnataka government is incurring a loss of more than Rs 25,000 crore tax revenue annually due to the unscientific methodology adopted by the 15th Finance Commission in both horizontal and vertical distribution of the central tax revenue among the states and also due to the Modi government’s discriminative attitude, etc, still it remains a political choice even for the states for how it envisages its growth and resource mobilisation within its limits.

Also read: The Discourse Around Karnataka Development Model Can’t Overlook its Inherent Contradictions

Thus there are still avenues wherein the state can tax the extravagant expenditure of the rich and upper middle class when compared to the poorer classes. However, taxing the rich instead of providing incentives for the ease of business might repel investors. This has been the neoliberal maxim used by both Congress and the BJP and all other ruling parties as an alibi for them to continue taxing the poor. This would inevitably lead to distress and dissatisfaction against the ruling government which would made use of by the opposition.

After the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress government immediately effected a hike of Rs 3 per litre of petrol and Rs 3.50 per litre of diesel, resulting in the rise of the basic prices of essential commodities. The government expects to mobilise an additional revenue of around Rs 3,000 crore through this.

Close on the heels, the government also increased the rates of every half-litre packet of milk by Rs 2. Though it showed the alibi of providing an extra 50 ml in each half-litre packet, it could not hide the tactic of compulsory purchases of hiked milk with extra quantity. The government has also said many times that the water rates will be revised and also a possibility of a hike in bus fares due to a hike in diesel prices.

As if it is not enough, in a recent Cabinet meeting the Congress government has decided to finance the benefits of Guarantees enjoyed by the SC and STs through SCSP and TSP. It has decided to allot Rs 14,000 crore out of Rs 39,000 crores earmarked for SCSP and TSP for the Guarantees schemes. While diverting these funds to general programmes itself defeats the very purpose of special plans for SC and STs, the amount diverted is far above what is required to finance SC and ST beneficiaries.

For example, for the Shakti Yojana, one of the Guarantee schemes which provide free bus rides for women, the budgeted expenditure is Rs 5,105 crore. The government has decided to divert Rs 1,451 crore from SCSP to this scheme which would be 34% of the total scheme expenditure which is 10-14% more than the SC and ST population in the state. Thus, it is another cunning method to divert the money for financing the Guarantees.

In another withdrawal measure, the government has decided to stop the grants for meritorious students belonging to SC and ST communities who want to pursue their PhD programmes in foreign universities.

In a recent interview to NDTV, Karnataka minister Krishna Byre Gowda has hinted that his government might reconsider these schemes in the near future, if not immediately.

Mimicking Modi: Asset monetisation 

In continuation of the same policies, the Siddharamaih government has started mimicking Modi’s model of resource mobilisation which entails selling national assets to the private capital at far below market price to finance the current expenditure. Thus after the elections were concluded in Karnataka, the Finance department had asked all the departments to identify assets which could be monetised and also possible disinvestment.

The government also hired Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the very same multinational hired by the Modi government to assist in implementing its ambitious and anti-people National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) scheme. The BCG has recommended monetising prime land of more than 25,000 acres around Bengaluru by earmarking it for sale to private giants which might happen in the forthcoming Karnataka Global Investors Meet in February 2025 for which BCG is the knowledge partner.

In fact, the 2021-22 economic survey of Karnataka prepared under the BJP government, led by Basavaraj Bommai, had come out with a detailed plan of asset monetisation by which it estimated a possible revenue of Rs 25,000 crore by monetising government-owned assets like roads, highways, electric transmission facilities, and warehouses.

Neoliberal Karnataka

All these regressive fiscal measures are part of the neoliberal economy which is destroying people’s economy and creating social and cultural crises which in turn is encashed by the fascist forces.  It is the Congress party that unleashed neoliberal economic restructuring of the economy in the 1990s and the erstwhile Congress governments in Karnataka pursued it wholeheartedly to the dot in the state. This was further pursued aggressively by the Bommai-led BJP government which followed a blueprint prepared jointly by Bommai and Mohan Das Pai (A neoliberal Hindutvawadi businessman based in Bangalore) under the title of ‘Karnataka: A One $ Trillion GDP Vision’. In fact, Siddaramaih’s budget follows the same economic blueprint in letter and spirit.

Thus, in a recent proposal made to the Union government, Karnataka’s IT minister Priyanka Kharge has expressed the intent of the state government to make Karnataka a hub of semiconductor and Liquid Hydrogen-based industries. For all we know, the Congress party had rebutted the Modi government for emphasising these two industries since they demand more capital subsidies from the state, they are capital incentive, hazardous and have very low employment potential.

In another bid, the Siddharamaih government has also expressed the intention of the state to build a Central Business District (CBD) following the model of Gujarat-based GIFT city in Bangalore.

Such CBDs are instruments of monopolising urban spaces by the affluent sections of society by excluding the rest from the habitat. Thus it is a most socially unjust model of urban planning. Still, the Siddharamiah government, which claims to be the model of government wedded to social justice, is eager to create an unjust urban Karnataka. In fact, the official tagline of GIFT City reads “A global city where wealth creates wealth”.

Soft Hindutva: Karnataka model 

While there was not much expectation of radical rupture by the Siddharamaiah government in the economic policies, the civil society and the people expected some hard and reassuring initiatives in curbing the Hindutva menace. But it has immensely disappointed on this front too. While it has not taken any stringent action against any Hindutva outfits which continued to indulge in all kinds of violent activities targeting Muslims with impunity, the Congress party and the government continue to patronise Hindutva-oriented norms and practices.

The Speaker U.T. Khader had invited the seers known for their allegiance to Hindutva politics, and are accused of protecting criminals responsible for the murders of young girls and land grabbing, to give moral education to the newly elected MLAs

The chief minister and his deputy personally visited Dharmasthala and hobnobbed with the head of the institution. The head himself had been nominated by the president as MP after the recommendation by the Modi government. He is also a patron of Hindutva organisations in the state.

The Congress government also officially facilitated the Bhagavad-Gita Abhiyan in the government schools like the earlier BJP government.

Authoritarian and unapologetic 

Another continuity between the BJP and the present government is its authoritarian administrative culture and scant respect for democratic norms. The recent controversy around the summoning of members and the presidents of autonomous literary and cultural academies and boards to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) headquarters by the deputy chief minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar is a pointer. According to the reports the meeting was not only held in the Congress headquarters but also conducted by Congress functionaries. The reports also said that the KPCC president discussed ways to strengthen the party in the state and sought their contribution to the same.

The concerned citizens and the self-respecting literary figures openly questioned this authoritarian conduct of Shivakumar, who justified it by saying writers are also politicians and academies are not autonomous since they are appointed by the government.

The worst part of the episode is that the members and the presidents of the bodies who were otherwise (at least outwardly) staunch democrats who took an active part in the civil society initiatives in the state for saving the constitution by defeating BJP did not find it objectionable and were echoing the arguments offered by the KPCC president.

Also read: Verdict 2024: Despite Some Losses, Modi 3.0 Thrives on Unchallenged Hindutva Hegemony

Civil society: Autonomous or Congress apologists? 

This brings us to the worst part of the episode namely the role of Congress-aligned civil society in this predicament. The civil society of Karnataka played an active and positive role in defeating the BJP and served as the last mile connectivity for the elite Congress leadership and the masses in villages and in the slums. These civil society groups while rightfully identifying BJP and Hindutva as the principal enemy of the people and defeating it as the principal task in the elections took enormous efforts to campaign for the victory of Congress understating its shortcomings and its anti-people past and present.

To put it in a nutshell, while considering the BJP as the main enemy and the inevitable necessity of voting for Congress to defeat the BJP, instead of considering Congress as a non-principle but nevertheless a secondary enemy of the people, started counting it as friends of the people. Any criticism of the Congress government would help the BJP was the permanent refrain in this camp of sincere civil society activists.

It could be one of the reasons why till date these particular civil society initiatives have not come out in the open against any of the above anti-people and pro-Hindutva plans, programmes and acts of the Congress government.

In the process, another section of this initiative, in a self-deceptive manner, started to consider the Congress as people-friendly and started to lobby for the benefits and posts in delusional justification to use the state as the instrument against fascist initiatives. This section of the people is unwilling to find any fault in the neoliberal economic initiatives of the Congress government, its authoritarian acts or its Soft Hindutva policies. They continue to support it with more rigour and vigour than the original Congress members.

Thus the Congressifictaion of the few sections of the anti-communal civil society groups in Karnataka is unwittingly losing its moral credibility in its fight against BJP and thus losing the “war of position” against fascism to borrow the phrase of Gramsci. Thereby, it is ceding the opposition space completely to the BJP for the Congress is legitimising the BJP’s opposition by its anti-people and authoritarian policies and acts.

It is an old story repeating in the new age. Fascism is not a party or a government. It is a regime. The electoral arena is one small part of its political ideological existence. It gains its strength from the passionate anger of the people about their living conditions. The economic and social plight of the masses is the product of the neoliberal economy. The fascists manipulate this anger as hatred against the more vulnerable false enemies. They engage them with myths, fake news, and fantasies all the time and everywhere. Thus fascism is not just a socio-cultural phenomenon. It has its roots in the crisis created by the neoliberal economy. Thus, the neoliberal parties cannot be allies in the fight against fascism.

The Congress, or for that matter most of the opposition parties, are wedded to neoliberal economy and politics notwithstanding different articulations made by Rahul Gandhi or his new friends occasionally. In any case, such individuals have to ultimately fall in line with the core structure and interest of the party. The support for the economically weaker sections (EWS), the continuation of Adani interests in Congress-ruled states, bowing to the Hindutva hegemony by collecting funds for Bhavya Ram mandir or not fielding adequate Muslim candidates, accommodating the proven Hindutvavadis in the party show the limits of secular voices within the Congress. The ease at which political defectors from Congress to BJP also assimilate Hindutva ideology and become its aggressive perpetrators also explains the Congress politics as the complementation to Hindutva not contradictory to it.

Their political culture and social values also stem from the same ideology which has cosmetic differences with the neoliberal Hindutva and not any fundamental divergence. Hence the Congress is the electoral adversary of the BJP and not its political ideological adversary. Thus though at times, one can have some conditional understanding of it if it is against Hindutva, one cannot count Congress as the ally in the fight against Fascism.

Hence, the premise of Congress-aligned civil society initiatives is wrongly placed. They need to align with the toiling people and be the people’s voice and help them organise. Fascism could be defeated only by radically transforming the capitalist economic order and the Brahminical social order. This is possible only by the material force of the people’s movement of toiling people. Defeating fascism and neoliberalism, Hindutva and caste is one and the same task and will not happen in the period between two elections. It might take a generation. Has it not taken Hindutva a century to become a hegemonic power?

Shivasundar is an activist and a freelance journalist based in Bangalore.