Bengaluru: Shedding all pretence of bonhomie with his party’s former coalition partner, the Janata Dal(S), Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramiah on Friday lashed out at JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for holding him responsible for the fall of the coalition government in the state.
In the last 48 hours, the father-son duo have targeted Mr Siddaramaiah in interactions with the media and now with the former Chief Minister too hitting back at them, the gloves are clearly off on both sides.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Siddarmaiah said Mr Deve Gowda had made some serious allegations against him. “It is an open secret that the Gowda family hates me. They want to finish me politically and feel they can finish the Congress by pushing me out. Mr Gowda is known for such old tricks,” he contended.
Accusing the JD(S) supremo of toeing the BJP’s line to save his family from charges of corruption, he said he was afraid as CM B.S. Yediyurappa had ordered a CBI inquiry into the phone tapping charges against his son. “ That’s why he is now praising PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Mr Gowda can do anything to save himself and his family,” he added. Calling his charges against him baseless and politically motivated, he said the coalition was weakened by the government’s failure to take MLAs and ministers into confidence. “It is Mr Kumaraswamy who is to be blamed for this and not me,” he snapped, also claiming that the BJP had managed to come to power because of “Gowda’s selfish politics.”
“Mr Gowda steadfastly demanded that his party be given eight seats in the last LS elections and the Congress gave in. It is clear that he wanted to ensure the victory of BJP candidates in these seats. Mr Gowda and his party also did not work in tandem with the Congress in Mysuru, Chamarajnagar, Kolar and Chikkaballpura, where the JD(S) has a considerable presence. This is a clear case of Mr Gowda's ‘adjustment politics’ hurting the Congress,” he charged, adding that he had helped BJP in almost 12 of 28 LS seats in Karnataka with his tactics. Conceding that he was never in favour of joining hands with Mr Gowda and his son, Mr Siddaramaiah said he was aware of how the former created problems for those who helped him become CM or PM. “Be it the then Congress president, Sitaram Kesari, or Janata Parivar leaders S.R. Bommai, Ramkrishna Hegde, J.H. Patel or I, we have suffered a lot despite helping him. This is the stark reality of the Gowda family's selfish politics,” he said.
On this was the end of the JD(S)-Congress alliance or if it would continue, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “The high command will decide that. I can’t take a decision on such things. In the Assembly, the Congress is the main opposition party.”
“I know, Mr Gowda's is trying to portray me as an anti-Vokkaliga. But I am not. I only oppose Mr Gowda and his family’s belief that only they should flourish in the name of Vokkligas. But I want every community to flourish and get equal opportunities,” he said.
