BENGALURU: Union Minister and former CM H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday took a swipe at Chief Minister D K Shivakumar holding a cabinet meeting in Mangaluru, called it an exercise by a “touring talkies” cabinet.
“Instead of spending so much money on taking a huge entourage to the district, that expenditure could have been used somewhere to improve the lives of farmers,” he said.
He questioned the outcome of holding cabinet meetings outside Bengaluru, pointing out that previous chief ministers too had conducted such meetings at district headquarters.
“What has come out of them? Apart from wasting public money, what else has happened?” Kumaraswamy said.
The former CM also hit back at IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge over his criticism, asking him to first respond to allegations surrounding the recruitment of 24 engineers through the Karnataka Public Service Commission. “Let time decide who is doing the hit-and-run,” Kumaraswamy said.
Will not back DKS just because he is a Vokkaliga: HDK
Kumaraswamy claimed that several people had approached him asking him not to be critical of the government since a Vokkaliga was occupying the CM’s post. “Many people come to me and put pressure, saying, ‘A Vokkaliga has become the chief minister, let him work peacefully and leave it at that,’” he said. Political support, he said, should be earned through conduct and governance rather than through caste identity.
Kumaraswamy clarified that he would not support a chief minister merely because he belonged to a particular community. A chief minister, he said, cannot restrict his responsibilities to one caste and has to protect the interests of the entire population of Karnataka.
“Anyone who becomes chief minister of this state cannot work for just one caste. It is the duty of the CM to protect all six-and-a-half crore people of the state,” he said.
He questioned whether the mere appointment of a chief minister from a particular community would automatically improve the economic condition of all members of that community.
Replying to former minister K N Rajanna’s statement that Vokkaligas don’t just vote looking at Shivakumar, they vote looking at former PM H D Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy said, “It’s not an exaggeration as the community backs H D Deve Gowda given the legacy of his long political career”.