"Siddaramaiah not committed to any party, but to his chair only": HD Kumaraswamy

BENGALURU: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy launched scathing attacks on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and said that the latter is not committed to any party, but to his chair only. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Kumaraswamy, who is contesting for the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency said that the Karnataka CM has no control over his cabinet.

"In today's Congress government, Siddaramaiah has no control over his cabinet. After the 2024 election results, Siddaramaih will take whatever decision he wants to continue as the Chief Minister. We know his character. He is the product of the Janata Dal. He is not committed to any party but only to his chair. There is no personal opposition against Siddaramaiah but only politically we criticized him. He developed his political strength through our party but has always said that he wants to finish the JD (S)," he said. Recalling his experiences of working with both the BJP and Congress, the JD(S) leader said that it was a sweet and bitter experience working with these two political parties.

"I had a good and bad experience aligning with Congress and BJP in previous times. From 2004-2006, we supported Congress and at times, people rejected Congress. Their party got 62 seats and we got 58. As Congress was running the central government, they said that they were not going to give the Chief Minister's post to the JD (S). Ultimately we come together to avoid the BJP in coming to power," HD Kumaraswamy said. He also recalled that after coming to power in 2004, the way Congress treated him was a 'bad experience'.

"My father wanted to go for fresh elections by giving the support of the JD(S) to the Congress. He met Sonia Gandhi also. At that time, BJP friends requested us even our MLAs put pressure on me to form a new government for a temporary period. I had an alliance with them (BJP) and we formed the government. We ran a good government with the BJP and it was a good experience we had. But after 20 months, when it was decided to hand over the power to Yediyurappa, some people in our party mischiefed to destroy the coalition," he added. "In 2018, Congress friends publicly criticized us during elections and said that JD(S) is the b-team of BJP. But at that time we were fighting against both, the BJP and the Congress," Kumaraswamy added.

The JD(S) leader mentioned further that in the 2018 assembly elections, Congress leaders approached former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and requested to form the government. "In the 2018 elections, the Karnataka people rejected the Congress government. At that time, Congress friends from Delhi i.e., Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot, approached Deve Gowda and requested to form the government with them. Gowda Ji said you can select Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, and Shivakumar for the Chief Minister's post as my son is ill. It was the request of Deve Gowda ji at that time also. Congress leaders said that they have decided to hand over the CM post to our party," Kumaraswamy said.

He also recalled that after the oath-taking ceremony, Congress started putting conditions and did not cooperate with him on good works. "But after the oath-taking ceremony, they started putting conditions on portfolios and cabinet ranks. They did not cooperate with me on good work. Whatever the programs they announced in their previous government, they wanted to continue them. Siddaramaiah was not happy from day one. He even announced to his followers that he would remove the government after the Parliamentary election," Kumaraswamy told ANI. (ANI)