Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has come under heavy fire from former chief minister of Karnataka and leader of the Janata Dal (Secular), HD Kumaraswamy, who claimed that the latter is only loyal to his chair and not to any political party.
The Mandya Lok Sabha candidate Kumaraswamy claimed that the Karnataka chief minister has no influence over his cabinet in an exclusive interview with ANI.
“Under the current Congress administration, Siddaramaiah has no control over his cabinet. Following the results of the 2024 election, Siddaramaih will decide whether or not to remain in his position as chief minister. We are aware of his personality. He is the Janata Dal’s offspring. He is devoted to his chair alone, not to any political party. Siddaramaiah is not facing any personal opposition; our criticism of him has only been political in nature. He has always stated that he wants to complete the JD (S), but he gained his political strength through our party, he said.
The JD(S) leader reminisced about his time spent working for the BJP and the Congress, characterizing the experience as both bitter and sweet.
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“I have previously sided with the Congress and BJP, with both favorable and unfavorable outcomes. We backed Congress from 2004 to 2006, and occasionally the public rejected Congress. We had 58 seats and their party had 62. While in control of the federal government, the Congress declared that the JD (S) would not be appointed to the position of Chief Minister. In the end, we band together to prevent the BJP from winning power, said HD Kumaraswamy.
He also remembered that his contacts with Congress after taking office in 2004 had been a “bad experience.”
“My father desired to enter the next election with the Congress’s support from JD(S). He also met Sonia Gandhi. My friends in the BJP asked us to put pressure on me to form a new government for a short time, even our MLAs. We (the BJP and I) formed an alliance, and together we formed the government. With the BJP, we were able to run a successful government, and the experience was positive. However, after 20 months, some in our party misbehaved to undermine the coalition when it was decided to give Yediyurappa the reins of power,” he continued.
“During the 2018 elections, friends of Congress openly attacked us and claimed that JD(S) is the BJP’s backroom group. However, we were fighting the Congress as well as the BJP at the time,” Kumaraswamy continued.
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The JD(S) leader went on to say that Congress leaders asked former Prime Minister Deve Gowda to form the government during the 2018 assembly elections.
“The Karnataka people rejected the Congress government in the 2018 elections. At that point, Deve Gowda was approached by Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot, two Delhi-based Congressmen, who asked to form a government with him. Gowda Ji said that since my son is sick, you can choose Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, and Shivakumar for the position of Chief Minister. At that time, too, Deve Gowda ji made that request. Kumaraswamy stated, “Congress leaders announced that they have chosen to transfer the CM position to our party.
Additionally, he recalled that Congress began imposing conditions following the oath-taking ceremony and refused to work with him on good works.
“However, they began placing restrictions on cabinet positions and portfolios following the swearing-in ceremony. They did not work well with me on the project. They desired to carry out all of the policies that their previous administration had declared. From the beginning, Siddaramaiah was not content. After the parliamentary election, he even declared to his supporters that he would overthrow the current administration,” Kumaraswamy told ANI.
(This story was published from a syndicated feed; NDTV staff did not edit it, with the exception of the headline.)
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