THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-May 11, 2017- Topic 1

Karnataka’s political future

The power of two

When elections draw near, rivalries within parties intensify. As Karnataka prepares for next year’s Assembly poll, front-line leaders of the two principal contenders for power, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have begun pressuring their national leaderships for a bigger say in ticket distribution and in the election campaign. In the BJP, the factional fight is between the State unit president and former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, and senior leader K.S. Eshwarappa. 

Mr. Yeddyurappa, who managed to extricate himself from the legal tangles that arose out of corruption cases, is the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post in case the BJP wins. But when Mr. Eshwarappa criticises the “unilateral style” of Mr. Yeddyurappa, he strikes a chord with many in the second line of the party. The BJP, which had lost heavily when Mr. Yeddyurappa broke away from the party before the last Assembly election, did well on his return in the Lok Sabha election three years ago. The party is therefore in no mood to jettison the former Chief Minister; Mr. Eshwarappa cannot hope for much more than a prominent role as second fiddle. Mr. Yeddyurappa retained the upper hand during the State executive of the party in Mysuru, even if his rival made a defiant appearance. In the absence of any encouragement from the national leadership, Mr. Eshwarappa has turned more conciliatory. But the fissures run deep and cannot be easily plastered over. Mr. Eshwarappa and his Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, a supposedly apolitical platform of Dalits and Backward Classes, will continue to exercise pressure on the chief ministerial aspirant.

In the Congress too, the leadership issue is more or less settled. Denying Chief Minister Siddaramaiah another shot at power would only weaken the party further. In any case, in the latest round of by-elections he held his own against a marauding BJP. But factional pressures and caste dynamics are in full play as the process of identifying a person for the post of president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee rolls on. After replacing former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh with K.C. Venugopal as the national leader in charge of affairs in Karnataka, the Congress is trying to plug the weakness in the organisational structure and bring together all factions. But there is simply no way to please everybody. Even if Mr. Siddaramaiah’s rivals are willing to reluctantly accept his candidature for chief ministership, they are likely to want someone who could stand up to him as the next KPCC president. The Congress leadership may see a benefit in having two power centres. Karnataka 2018 might turn out to be a fight between Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Siddaramaiah, but the election will be won and lost on how those lower down the hierarchy pull their weight.

Vocabulary

Rivalries: competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.

Example: Commercial rivalry

Synonyms: competitiveness, competition, contention, vying, opposition

Intensify: become or make more intense.

Example: The dispute began to intensify

Synonyms: escalate, increase, step up, boost, raise

Contenders: a person or group competing with others to achieve something.

Example: A presidential contender

Factional: relating or belonging to a faction.

Example: Factional leaders

Extricate: free someone from a constraint or difficulty.

Example: He was trying to extricate himself from official duties

Synonyms: extract, free, release, disentangle, get out, remove, withdraw

Tangle: a confused mass of something twisted together.

Example: A tangle of golden hair

Synonyms: snarl, mass, knot, mesh, mishmash

Frontrunner: the contestant that is leading in a race or other competition.

Example: The former governor of a New England state is emerging as the Democrats front runner in the US presidential election race.

Jettison: throw or drop something from an aircraft or ship.

Example: Six aircraft jettisoned their loads in the sea

Prominent: projecting from something; protuberant.

Example: A man with big, prominent eyes like a lobster's

Synonyms: protuberant, protruding, projecting, jutting out, standing out

Defiant: showing defiance.

Example: She was in a defiant mood

Synonyms: intransigent, resistant, obstinate, uncooperative, noncompliant

Plastered: cover a wall, ceiling, or other structure with plaster.

Example: My walls and ceiling were plastered and at some point covered with wallpaper.

Synonyms: cover thickly, smother, spread, smear, cake, coat, slather

Reluctant: unwilling and hesitant; disinclined.

Example: She seemed reluctant to discuss the matter

Synonyms: unwilling, disinclined, unenthusiastic, resistant, resisting

Hierarchy: a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Example: The most important thing in the election of the chairman was not professional competence in the field, but activity within the Party and a sufficiently high status in the political hierarchy .

Synonyms: pecking order, order, ranking, grading, gradation