Bengaluru: Taking a dig at CM Siddaramaiah, former prime minister, H. D. Deve Gowda on Saturday dared him to a public debate on contributions made by various Chief Ministers of the state.
Mr Gowda is miffed with Mr Siddarmaiah over repeatedly "claiming the credit for developing New Karnataka" and boasting that the state was progressing in an unprecedented manner under his leadership when compared with the tenure of previous Chief Ministers.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Gowada challenged Mr Siddaramaiah to a public debate on the issue saying Mr Siddaramaiah was not just trying to paint his predecessors in a bad light but also debunking their contributions to the state.
"Let Mr Siddaramaiah remember his old days, when he was finance minister under me. Though he was finance minister, he didn't even knew how to borrow funds and utilise them for people's welfare. It is I who took the initiative to borrow from Pearless Finance to fund irrigation projects in the state. I am speaking with utmost patience today. Let Mr Siddaramaiah not test my patience anymore on these kind of issues. These are sensitive issues, everyone knows what the contribution of Devraj Urs and Nijalingappa was," he snapped.
Training his guns at Mr Siddaramaiah, Mr Gowda charged that the former often says those who have taken bail or gone to jail cannot be chief ministers. "I know he is hinting at Mr Kumarswamy and Mr Yeddyurappa. This is too much. Let him not take people of this state lightly. I dare AICC president, Rahul Gandhi to declare Mr Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister candidate of this state. Then certainly there will be upheaval within the Congress itself, so, let him not daydream about coming back to power for a second term," he warned.
He said that he had never spoken lightly or arrogantly about anyone including PM Narendra Modi or Congress UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi or AICC president, Rahul Gandhi. Answering a question, Mr Gowda declared that he would shortly meet Prime Minister Modi to appeal him to intervene in the Mahadayi river dispute.
