HUBBALLI: Reacting sharply to the Dalit card being played by the Congress ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections, senior JDS leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy shot back at the Grand Old Party questioning why it did not make a leader from the community a CM in the past.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy ridiculed the Congress for playing the Dalit card at a time when the party itself was not sure of getting a clear majority in the upcoming polls.
“Why didn’t Congress make Mallikarjun Kharge the CM when JDS openly supported him in 2018? In the presence of senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, Siddaramaiah, Dr G Parameshwara and DK Shivakumar, JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda suggested the name of Kharge for the CM’s post during the coalition government,” he said, adding that the Congress could have made Kharge the chief minister even in 2013 when it won the Assembly polls.
On the confusion over the JDS candidate from Hassan, the former CM reiterated that a party worker would be fielded from the constituency. “The final decision would be taken after holding consultations with state and national presidents of the party,” he added.
On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy took out the party’s Pancharatna Yatre in Hubballi. He also visited the Siddaroodha Mutt, Fateh Shah Wali Dargah, and Tulja Bhavani Temple and concluded the Yatra after addressing a public rally at Ganesh Peth.
HDK’s chopper loses way
As hundreds of people waited at Joida College Grounds, Uttara Kannada, to see his chopper landing, HD Kumaraswamy got delayed. JDS workers tried desperately to contact him, but in vain. JDS workers asked the police to fog the area so that the venue was visible from the top. Finally when Kumaraswamy landed at Joida 20 minutes later, he told party workers that the chopper circled Ramanagara seven times before finding out the venue at Joida. “It became difficult to locate your town,” he joked.