Bengaluru: Chief Minister H.D. Kumarawamy, who on Monday seemed unsure about presenting a fresh budget in the wake of his predecessor Siddaramaiah’s objections to it, was singing a different and more confident tune on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters here before the pre-budget meetings, he declared there were absolutely no hurdles in presenting a new budget.
Sources said the shot in the arm came from Congress ministers, who supported Mr Kumaraswamy’s move to present the fresh budget. The Chief Minister , who was upset on Monday over the video aired on TV channels of Mr Siddaramaiah objecting to the new budget and vented his ire during the pre-budget and loan waiver meeting with the cooperative department, was reportedly assured by the Congress ministers later that he had their support.
They advised him not to be upset over such statements by the former Chief Minister and told him they were happy to be part of the pre-budget meetings, which gave them a better insight into the department’s functioning, sources said.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr G Parameshwar and Water Resources Minister, D K Shivakumar too are said to have held a private meeting with Mr Kumaraswamy to assure him that the Congress was not against presenting a new budget. They also welcomed the pre-budget meetings as they gave most of the ministers,who were new to their portfolios, a better grasp of their departments.
Mr Kumaraswamy is said to have received more assurance from AICC General Secretary, K C Venugopal, who asked him not to worry about statements made against the presenting of a new budget and promised to personally take care of Congress leaders, who were unhappy with it.
Sources revealed that JD(S) national general secretary, Danish Ali also spoke to AICC General Secretary, Ahamed Patel about the confusion over the budget, and the latter expressed his regret at the objections raised by some Congress leaders and promised to take up the issue with Congress president, Rahul Gandhi.
Gowda backs son: Customary for new govt to have a budget
Others may not be so optimistic but Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda remains supremely confident that the coalition government will present a new budget as is the custom and will face no threat to its stability.
Speaking to reporters after a JD(S) meeting on Tuesday, Mr Gowda said the governor will address the new Legislature and he cannot repeat his old speech which had focused on the plans and programmes of the previous government.
“I would not blame Mr Siddaramaiah (who has been opposing the presentation of a fresh budget). He had controlled the finance department and had presented his budgets. When I was prime minister, Mr P Chidambaram had presented a budget, which was termed a ‘dream budget’. When Mr I.K. Gujral succeeded me, he did not present a new budget. In the same way, when Mr Yeddyurappa stepped down, Mr Sadananda Gowda continued with his budget. However, it is a different scenario now when the government itself has changed in its composition,” Mr Gowda said.
When asked about Mr Siddaramaiah's controversial statements which have fuelled speculation about the stability of the government, the former PM said the coordination committee would take care of any such issues.
“Mr K.C. Venugopal (Congress general secretary) is one of the member of the coalition coordination committee, he will look into any internal issues of the Congress,” he said.
Hinting that there would be a change of guard in thee JD(S) soon, Mr Gowda said Mr Kumaraswamy, who is the party state president, is busy with governance and the party was looking at ways to reduce his work burden.
The meeting also deliberated on forthcoming elections in the state. “We are working on a formula which will make sure we do not affect the coalition. The elections to local bodies like TMCs and CMCs have to be won by the JD(S) without affecting the coalition’s stability. The Lok Sabha elections may come sooner than we expect as the Centre may go for elections along with the Assembly elections in four states by the year-end. We have not discussed the number of seats each coalition partner should contest but we are preparing to face the elections,” he said.
When asked about rumours that he was planning to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Mandya and not Hassan, Mr Gowda smiled and dismissed it as media speculation. “I have not thought of it so far,” he added.
