Bengaluru: In a frank admission, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge revealed that he missed a golden chance to become chief minister of a Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2004 primarily because of his straight forward approach. Presiding over the first death anniversary programme of former chief minister N. Dharam Singh here on Friday, Mr. Kharge disclosed details of a conversation between him and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda before formation of coalition government in 2004. “Just before government formation, Mr Gowda told me in Delhi that you are a straight forward leader and cannot easily take the advice of others in your stride. He told me that I had been critical of him as Opposition leader and so he had decided to name my friend Dharam Singh as CM since he was an ‘adjustable’ leader,” Mr Kharge said.
“The publication of a book by H.K. Patil (Congress leader and former RDPR minister) at that time also had an adverse impact on my prospects. Mr Gowda referred to the book which had content criticising the JD(S), before the formation of the coalition government,” Mr Kharge recalled. Looking at Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who was on the dais, he said, “This incident happened in Delhi in 2004, I am not telling a lie, if you (HDK) want, you can check this with your father.”
The veteran leader was all praise for the large heartedness of Dharam Singh. “After Gowda suggested his name, Singh informed me that, he had a chance to become CM and sought my cooperation. After all we had worked together for more than 50 years for the state’s interests,” Mr. Kharge said. “Dharam Singh had friends in all parties. It is not always possible in politics to agree with all. But my friend has this unique quality of respecting the opinion of all which was why he earned the name, ‘Ajatashatru’ (someone with no enemies),” he said.
Mr Kumaraswamy, who is often portrayed as a ‘villain’ for unseating Dharam Singh in 2006 and becoming CM with BJP support, said that unavoidable circumstances forced him to withdraw support to Singh. “Though I took the decision to withdraw support, Singh did not feel bad, in fact he advised me to give good governance and be patient while discharging my duties,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.
