Even two years after the Congress-JDS coalition government fell in Karnataka, top leaders of both parties have not moved on. JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy and Congress leader Siddaramaiah continued to blame each other for the fall of their coalition government on Wednesday.
“Siddaramaiah needs only power. When he didn’t get that power in this party, didn’t he switch to Congress? Just to sit in the opposition he sacrificed the political future of 23 of his ministers. Everybody knows who’s responsible for making Yediyurappa the Chief Minister. Isn’t he ashamed of calling JDS the B team of BJP?” asked former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, blaming Siddaramaiah for the fall of the coalition government.
The blame game which began in July 2019, when the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government fell after 17 Congress-JDS legislators defected to the BJP, did not end here. Siddaramaiah retorted to Kumaraswamy’s allegations saying he had insulted the Constitution of India by insulting the position of leader of the opposition.
“Is this the respect a former Chief Minister gives to a constitutional position? Even his father H D Devegowda had served as leader of the opposition when Deveraj Urs was the CM. Out of 17 MLAs who defected to BJP during the coalition government, three were from the JD(S). Did I send them too? Also when he addressed during the vote of no confidence motion, he blamed Yediyurappa for the ‘Operation Kamala’ and alleged that BJP lured MLAs by offering money and position. Why did he not take my name then? I would have replied in the Assembly only. I have never compromised on my ideology or principles for political benefits. It was Kumaraswamy who withdrew support to the Dharam Singh government in 2005 and joined hands with BJP to become the CM. Was that done for the power or to practice asceticism?” said Siddaramaiah, another former Chief Minister.
“At a time when the coalition government was about to lose the majority, Kumaraswamy was sitting in America. What was the need for that? I called him to come back at the earliest but he stayed there for 9 days. Can CM run a government from West End? Can he run the administration without meeting MLAs, Ministers and Officers? This was the reason for the government’s fall. I am tired of repeating the same thing. I will not answer to such allegations again,” he added.
However, the war of words did not end there. Two chief ministers have sworn in after the fall of the Congress-JDS but the two leaders haven’t unanimously found the “reason for the fall”.
Kumaraswamy said he would stop talking about Siddaramaiah only when Siddaramaiah stops talking about him and his party.
“If you do not stop, I will not stop. Siddaramaiah is responsible for the fall of the coalition government. He sent his MLAs to the BJP. He planned to bring down the coalition government even before it could take off. He criticises the JDS on one side and drowns his own party on the other side. Siddaramaiah is not trustworthy,” said Kumaraswamy.
This is the latest statement in what seems to be an ongoing and possibly never-ending hunt for finding the “person responsible” for the fall of the coalition government in Karnataka.
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