The fast-paced political developments in Karnataka are not quite unexpected. They are a fallout, if not a corollary, of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) return to power at the Centre and its better-than-expected performance in the Lok Sabha election in the state. At a deeper level, they bear out the fact that little divides political leaders in our country. Self-interest is the driving factor and the name of the game. Opportunism is a “virtue” if it serves their self-interest. Deserting a party on whose symbol one won an election or defecting to (or playing into the hands of) another party is not considered something unethical or shameful.

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