BENGALURU: The verbal fusillade between leaders of the coalition partners continues unabated as each party tries to go one up on the other. Sparking off a fresh controversy, senior JDS leader Basavaraj Horatti on Saturday said the Congress was being ‘intolerant and uncooperative’.
He even called for the dissolution of the Assembly and holding mid-term polls so that JDS can come back to power on its own. None other than Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy himself had to step in to call for a truce.
“We are on the verge of forming a new government at the Centre. At this juncture, where all efforts are being made to form a non-BJP government, contradictory statements from leaders of the coalition parties may mar such efforts. My humble request to leaders of both parties is to restrain from making contradictory/controversial statements in public and to support the cause (of formation of non-BJP government at the Centre),” the CM tweeted as soon as he returned from Tirupati where he had been to celebrate his father H D Deve Gowda’s birthday.
He headed straight to Mysuru where he checked into a resort and met with some ministers from his party.
Hours later, senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao were summoned to New Delhi to attend a meeting convened by party president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday.
It is believed that the bickering among the coalition partners will come up for discussion.
Many JDS leaders, including minister Sa Ra Mahesh said Horatti’s statement was “unwarranted” and can send wrong message. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge too expressed his displeasure while KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre felt there was no need for making such statements at this juncture.
Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters in Bagalkot, JDS MLC Horatti said Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is giving good governance but the coalition partner is not allowing him to work properly. Hence, it is better to dissolve the Assembly and face elections again.
Gowda’s chutzpah surprises many!
“I prayed for strength to serve the people better,’’ said JDS patriarch H D Deve Gowda after offering prayers at the hill shrine at Tirupati on Saturday. He also reiterated that he “will rise from the dust” just as he had done when he demitted office as PM in 1997. His statement on seeking strength to serve the people has left many wondering what his next move could be!
“Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has tolerated a lot in the coalition government. If Congress leaders do not cooperate with him, I won’t be surprised if the CM dissolves the Assembly. Apart from this, there are also chances that the governor might intervene and recommend dissolution of the Assembly,” said JDS MLC Horatti.
Continued bickering among the coalition leaders can threaten the Congress’s efforts to bring together non-BJP parties at the national level and this issue is likely to come up for discussion during the Congress leaders’ meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.
Sources hinted that the meeting is likely to discuss the recent statements by Kumaraswamy, his party state president H Vishwanath, Basavaraj Horatti and Siddaramaiah and the repercussions of such statements on the coalition government.