BENGALURU: After a damp squib of a Tipu Jayanti celebrations on Saturday, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who introduced the event in 2015, took to Twitter on Sunday to express his views in what looked like a taunt to all those who skipped the official event, including Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
“Compromises are sometimes necessary for the public good. I may have done this too. But I can never compromise the fundamental values of secularism. Power may come and go. I don’t care,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.
The thinly veiled comment has raised eyebrows as the Congress and JD(S) run a coalition government in the state. Kumaraswamy, while in opposition, did not back the celebrations initiated by Siddaramaiah when he was the CM. But as Congress is an ally now, Kumaraswamy could not very well oppose it, say observers. But he stayed away citing health reasons.
Siddaramaiah was subjected to further embarrassment after not just Kumaraswamy but also Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara giving the event a miss. Parameshwara’s office said he returned from abroad only on Saturday evening, thus missing the official event in the morning.
Acknowledging that leaders including Kumaraswamy missing the celebrations may have prompted Siddaramaiah to take potshots, a Congress leader called the JD(S) opportunistic.
“The JD(S) is aware that continuation of the coalition government is imperative to the Congress and is misusing it. The timing of the celebration was changed and invitees were not informed till late on Friday night. It was all deliberate,” the leader said.
“Siddaramaiah introduced Tipu Jayanti and he was naturally disappointed that leaders skipped the event. It was his government’s decision and his party is still in coalition with the JD(S). What happened on Saturday makes way for people to raise questions about secular interests of the coalition government,” said an aide of Siddaramaiah.
The aide observed that the celebrations that took place in Cauvery, Siddaramaiah’s official residence, were far more vibrant than the state’s official celebrations.
“Certainly, Saturday’s event had a big impact on him (Siddaramaiah). When he was Chief Minister, it was a grand affair and this time it was deliberately neglected,” observed another senior Congress legislator.
While the BJP alleged that Kumaraswamy stayed away from Tipu Jayanti celebrations out of the fear of losing his chair, many from the Congress were disappointed that even Parameshwara gave the event a miss, albeit due to his tight schedule.
“It is now clear that #TippuJayanti was celebrated to satisfy the inflated ego of “Neo Islamist” @siddaramaiah who started this practice in 2015 as part of Appeasement Politics. Neither the person who wants to be born as a Muslim in his next birth nor his son attended the event (SIC),” tweeted C T Ravi of the BJP.