Bengaluru: It’s a hail of abuse for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the aftermath of Sunday's Cabinet reshuffle. If he was called “mentally ill” by Mr V Srinivasaprasad, angry at being dropped from the council of ministers, he was on Tuesday likened to Hitler by actor-turned politician, M.H. Ambarish, who confirmed he had resigned as MLA and ruled out any possibility of reconsidering his decision.
“I am not a slipper to wear at whim nor is Mr Siddaramaiah a dictator to take such a unilateral decision,” he told reporters here. Insisting that the Chief Minister should have had the courtesy to talk to him and senior leaders like Mr Srinivasaprasad before reconstituting the Cabinet, he said,''Some AICC members spoke to me, but they are not important.
The Chief Minister himself should have had the dignity to talk to party seniors. Is he a dictator or Hitler? What does he think of himself?'' As for the claim that he was inefficient, he said, “ If I am an inefficient minister, I cannot be an efficient MLA. Let them rule the state efficiently.''
Asked if the Ramya factor had worked against him, Mr Ambarish shot back, “ Please don't drag the name of that girl, Ms Ramya into this. What she can do? Is she CM or PM? ''
As for other parties wooing him, he said, ''I know other parties are prepared to roll out the red carpet for me. I have not spoken to rebel Congress members and so far I have not thought of leading them either. Mr Deve Gowda (JDS supremo) spoke to me and asked me not to resign in haste. But I have made my decision.''
Taking a dig at Mr Siddaramaiah, Mr Ambarish said he would would have lost the Chamundeshwari byelection if he had not worked for him. ''When I went there, the election process was in shambles. I went house to house in places like Bogadi and he won by a narrow margin,” he said.
