'Furrows in a Field' is a portrait of the unusual politician, unlikely PM Deve Gowda was

Sandeep Sinha

Advertisement

The rise of HD Deve Gowda marks a transition in Indian polity when the country veered towards experimenting with the coalition form of governance. When Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister, many people intuitively thought that our democracy was not entirely captured by elites and dynasts and that there was space for a self-made person.

From humble roots, it was his own determination and that of his unlettered father that saw Deve Gowda overcome odds. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka in 1994 but was soon made the PM for lack of consensus. The author says that in Karnataka, also called ‘Punjab of the South’, his legacy is measured by the myopia of caste identity politics. The fact that he is the patriarch of the Vokkaligas, a powerful peasant community that controls the electoral destiny of south Karnataka, has subsumed every other aspect of his political journey. With the Assembly polls slated to be held in the state this year, the political acumen of the patriarch of Karnataka politics will be put to test again.

Deve Gowda is known for his understanding of regional issues. Beginning with his mentoring under AG Ramachandra Rao, Education Minister and Holenarsipur legislator who was a Congressman, Deve Gowda gradually emerged on his own. The ‘bicycle man’ of Holenarsipur finally became an MLA during the 1962 Assembly polls, painting himself as a victim of ‘Congress intrigue’, contesting as a rebel candidate and getting expelled from the Congress party. In Karnataka’s caste politics with deep divisions, he had begun carving his own niche.

The book makes for engaging reading as it describes political rivalries in Karnataka and Deve Gowda’s relationship with other leaders. He had good relations with Chandra Shekhar and Morarji Desai. The latter told him to be wary of Ramkrishna Hegde and on the direction of Chandra Shekhar, he went out of his way to make Hegde the CM. The relationship between Hegde and Deve Gowda later soured with each suspecting the other of undermining him.

The political wrangling only showed that there are no permanent friends and enemies in politics, only interests. In fact, JH Patel and Siddaramaiah almost came to blows in his room over who should be the CM after he became the PM.

It was also a time when West Bengal CM Jyoti Basu gave up the chance of becoming the PM for lack of support from his own party. It was Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet who prevailed upon Deve Gowda to become the PM since Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav were always at each other’s throat.

After the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, when Deve Gowda went to meet PM Narendra Modi, he asked him why he was made the PM for such a short stint when he was doing so well in Karnataka. The relations between Modi and Deve Gowda have been of both cordiality and one-upmanship. Their strategies and utterances have shadowed each other, and like fine players, they seem to enjoy every bit of the game. The author says that there may be many things about Modi that make him unhappy, but there is one thing that makes him happy — the public recognition that Modi has given Gowda.

Biography of an unusual leader, the book is well-researched, cogently-woven. Sympathetic in tone, it does not lose objectivity and is not judgmental.