Bengaluru: If former chief minister Siddaramaiah could lose only 3.5 kg during his two-week-long sojourn at the naturopathy hospital in Dharmasthala recently, there is a reason for it. He got tired of the fasting diet and went back to chappatis and other food after three days!
The veteran leader himself revealed this with a twinkle in his eyes while chatting with Deccan Chronicle about his experiences at Dharmasthala. He averred that he would not give any interview to the print or electronic media for a few months. Did it have something to do with the leaks and leaks of his videos with his associates during his recuperation phase in which he targeted CM Kumaraswamy and his proposed budget? One will never know.
Sipping hot coffee, the former CM said he was reminded by one of his fans that he had turned fair and could only laugh at it. "I am dark. Perhaps, I got back my natural colour," he chuckled. He revealed that he liked the Dharmasthala hospital much better than two other nature cure hospitals he had visited in the city.
As the conversation veered to politics and the farm loan waiver, Siddaramaiah, in his usual style, said, “I will not speak anything about politics or the government. Now the finance minister is H.D. Kumaraswamy, he will speak.”
He reiterated his view that the media gave a go-by to ethics when it telecast his video footage recorded inside the hospital.
To a pointed question on whether the farm loan waiver might defeat the objectives of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Siddaramaiah said, “You see my budget presented in March this year and you will get an idea,” hinting that he had taken a wise and prudent decision then not to waive farm loans.
