The Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government, which is on the edge after the resignation of two legislators, continues to be haunted by exchange of barbs between friends-turned-foes Siddaramaiah, former Chief Minister and coalition coordination committee head, and A.H. Vishwanath, former Janata Dal (Secular) State president.
While the two have been at loggerheads in the recent months over the alleged role of Mr. Siddaramaiah in blocking the entry of Mr. Vishwanath into the coalition government’s coordination committee, it was the latter’s outbursts in New Delhi on Wednesday that led to a new flare-up on Thursday. He had said in Delhi that Mr. Siddaramaiah and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had failed to make the coalition experiment a success in Karnataka. Mr. Vishwanath had met a set of BJP leaders too in Delhi.
A combative former Chief Minister, speaking in Mysuru, questioned Mr. Vishwanath’s right to make comments against others when he himself was unable to discharge the duties of a party’s State president and had resigned within a short time.
“He was unable to shoulder responsibilities as the party State president. How can he talk about others?” Mr. Siddaramaiah asked. Later, he also tweeted that Mr. Vishwanath was trying to conceal his own inefficiency with such remarks.
Responding to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s remarks, Mr. Vishwanath told presspersons in Bengaluru that the State knows his and the former’s abilities. “Mr. Siddaramaiah’s culture is such. Roshan Baig called him arrogant and it is true. He is vindictive.” Mr. Vishwanath said that Mr. Siddaramaiah had blocked his entry into the coordination committee out of vindictiveness.
Going a step further, he hoped that both the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress presidents can now be accommodated in the coalition’s coordination committee. “Mr. Siddaramaiah is vindictive. To ensure that I am dropped from the coordination committee, even KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao was not included. At least now that I’m not in the post, the new president can be accommodated in the committee,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to Minister for Higher Education G.T. Deve Gowda’s continued defence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in the recent resignation of the two Congress MLAs, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he had not spoken to either Mr. Modi or Mr. Shah in this regard. “Let him [G.T. Deve Gowda] remain committed to whatever he has said. I have not spoken to either Mr. Modi or Mr. Shah. He may have spoken,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said. He reiterated that Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah were responsible for the defections in the State.
On Mahadev’s charge
He said he was not aware about Periyapatna JD(S) MLA K. Mahadev’s charge that former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi had demanded ₹80 crore from the Chief Minister to stay on in the coalition. But, the BJP is trying to lure MLAs from the Congress and JD(S). They have made offers to several MLAs and even carried cash with them only to return after the MLAs refused to accept it.
