MYSURU: Chief minister Siddaramaiah and Mahadeva Prasad showed how friends can rise above political rivalry.
Both Siddaramaiah and Prasad started out their political careers in the Janata Parivar. Siddaramaiah went on to become the deputy Chief Minister when J H Patel became the CM of the Janata Dal government. He joined H D Deve Gowda when the latter split from Janata Dal to form Janata Dal(Secular).
Mahadeva Prasad later joined JD(S) and joined the government of N Dharam Singh government.
When Siddaramaiah had a fallout with Deve Gowda and and launched All India Progressive Janata Dal before joining Congress, Mahadeva Prasad remained with H D Kumaraswamy as minister for Kannada and Culture and Chamarajnagar district in-charge.
Prasad also spearheaded the campaign for Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy against Congress candidate Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari bypolls in 2006.
However, this did not come in the way of their friendship when Mahadev Prasad decided to join Congress and became the Chief Minister’s confidant and a prominent member in the CM’s coterie. He was also close to Siddaramaiah’s family.