HASSAN: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday added a new dimension to the conspiracy theories surrounding the present coalition arrangement in Karnataka, saying a political conspiracy prevented him from becoming chief minister for the second time. He also went on to say that he will return to power if he had the blessings of the state’s people.
Significantly, Siddaramaiah chose to make the statement from the home turf of the H D Deve Gowda family.“All forces opposed to me got united to ensure that I don’t become the CM for a second time,” the Congress leader said while addressing party workers in a village near Holenarsipur in Hassan district, a stronghold of the JD(S).
Though he did not take any names, he made no effort to hide his displeasure about the coalition government. “Unfortunately, everything in politics now depends on caste and cash. It is not good for democracy and society,” he said, adding there was no such discrimination when he was chief minister and the government had started many schemes for the benefit of the poor from all sections.
Sending a clear message that he cannot be ignored, he said nothing is constant in politics. “I am not scared and I will not sit quietly. In politics, we should never be scared of anything as nothing is constant. It is like river water, which keeps flowing. What goes up has to come down,” he remarked.Though Siddaramaiah is chairman of the coalition coordination committee, the perception is that the government has sidelined him by not consulting him while taking major decisions.
Over the last few weeks, the former chief minister had written many letters expressing displeasure about the government’s decisions, including hiking fuel prices and reducing the quantity of rice given under Anna Bhagya scheme.
KPCC chief: Siddu did not criticise coalition
KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao tried to downplay it saying that all that Siddaramaiah said was that the Congress government did good work but people were swayed by other factors during elections. The former CM did not criticise the coalition arrangement or the government, he added. Former Congress minister Vinay Kulkarni, who was also in Hassan on Friday, chose to interpret Siddaramaiah’s remark on “what goes up has to come down”, as in reference to the 2019 Lok Sabha election.According to political analyst Prof Sandeep Shastri, by making those statements in Hassan, Siddaramaiah was reasserting his presence. “He wants to reassert his presence and remind everyone that he cannot be ignored. It is very significant to note that he doesn’t have good relations with the JD(S) leadership and made those statements in Hassan,” he added.
Defends Rahul’s statements
Mysuru: KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao has defended Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s statement in Germany that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “failed to deliver the goods and is spreading hatred”. Gundurao said Gandhi’s observation is “right” as the Centre failed to create jobs.