Congress Made Me CM, Not Your Parrot: HD Kumaraswamy Slams Siddaramaiah

Continuing its attack, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday asked Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah to specify reasons for defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Kumaraswamy said it was the Congress top brass that made him the CM and not Siddaramaiah. "I am not a parrot domesticated by Siddaramaiah. There are several like him who prospered under HD Deve Gowda. I became CM due to blessing from the Congress high command," Kumaraswamy said.

"He (Siddaramaiah) didn't listen to the Congress high command when they gave certain directives and that is why the govt didn't last. After leaving Congress, setting up a regional entity is something that I did, does Siddaramaiah have guts to do anything for regional pride?" Kumaraswamy said.

The 59-year-old JDS leader became the chief minister of the Karnataka in May last year with the support of the Congress. However, his tenure ended after the fall of his coalition government following dissent within.

Congress and JD(S) considered as arch rivals, especially in old Mysuru region, had bitterly fought against each other during the 2018 assembly polls, but joined hands after the elections threw up a hung verdict to keep BJP, the single largest party in the 225-member assembly, out of power. This was the second tenure of Kumaraswamy as the chief minister, but it wasn’t easy for him to manage the rocky coalition as reports of rift between the alliance partner kept coming on several occasions.

The coalition government collapsed on July 22 after the confidence motion moved Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was defeated in the assembly, bringing to an end his 14-month long turbulent tenure marked by dissidence within the Congress. Raising a banner of rebellion, sixteen MLAs (13 from the Congress and 3 JDS) had resigned as legislators which culminated in the fall of the coalition government.

After Kumaraswamy government’s collapse, BS Yediyurappa-led BJP formed the government. Yediryurappa, who became the chief minister of the state for the fourth time, proved majority in the floor of the Assembly on July 29.