JD(S), Congress bigwigs trade shot over alliance govt’s fall

Bengaluru Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and ex-Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday blamed each for the collapse of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in Karnataka after the coalition lost a trust vote in July after 17 of its lawmakers submitted their resignations.

“[Congress president] Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi erred in not consulting Siddaramaiah before naming HD Kumaraswamy as the chief minister of the coalition government,” said Gowda.

On Thursday, Gowda said Siddaramaiah “could not digest” the Congress’s move to name Kumaraswamy as the chief minister without consulting him.

Siddaramaiah blamed Gowda and his sons, Kumaraswamy and HD Revanna, for the coalition’s collapse. “All the allegations made by Deve Gowda are far from the truth and made to gain political mileage,” he said.

“If they [Kumaraswamy, Revanna, and Gowda] had taken everybody into confidence and worked for the development of their constituencies, there would not have been any dissidence.”

Siddaramaiah said none of the recommendations of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coordination committee he headed were acted upon. “He [Kumaraswamy] used to agree to them but never acted upon them. But I never spoke about this because the high command had asked us to support them for five years.” He blamed Gowda and Kumaraswamy for the BJP’s rise in Karnataka.

Siddaramaiah said Gowda had forgotten that the two leaders had campaigned together during the Lok Sabha polls. “It is true that I had suggested to the high command that we go in for a friendly fight rather than contest together. But it is incorrect for him to blame me for his loss in the Lok Sabha polls,” he said. “If that is the case, then who can we blame for the losses of our candidates in other constituencies?”

Gowda said he was watching everything that they did. “If I had removed the government, nationally [they would have said] Gowda removed the government… Kumaraswamy was in tears when he told me he would resign because of the trouble they created.”

Congress state president Dinesh Gundu Rao criticised Gowda for his statements. “We stood with them until the end. Speaking about someone crying was not required. Showing helplessness is not right and it is a little dramatic.”

Kumaraswamy said it was not the right time to respond to Siddaramaiah’s allegations. “At a time when secular forces have to come together, it is not healthy to make such statements. I will respond to everything when the time is right.”