Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday rued that he did not have the freedom to function independently when he was the Chief Minister.
Addressing a party workers’ meeting here, he said: “I was the Chief Minister for naam ke vaasthe . I was at the mercy of somebody else in the 14 months of my tenure as Chief Minister. That is why I could not meet your expectations or do anything for you.” He thanked the party workers for staying with him despite him not being able to do anything for them.
Hitting out at Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa for making several allegations against the coalition government, he said: “You called our government ‘looti sarkara’. Now, look at the transfers taking place. On what criteria have you appointed the BDA Commissioner? What is his background? Tremendous pressure was exerted on me too but I did not buckle.”
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Criticising the BJP government for not ensuring implementation of the Debt Relief Act, a Government Order which he had issued before stepping down, he said: “This Act is to ensure people get relief from private moneylenders. It is not just farm loan waiver, we wanted to end the vicious debt cycle trapping the poor. Hence, we came out with Debt Relief Bill. It got the Presidential nod on July 16 and on July 22 the GO was issued.”
He said he was following up on the implementation of the Act with the Chief Secretary even after stepping down. “I have even written to the Chief Minister to expedite formulation of guidelines as people have only 70 more days to apply for relief under the Act.”
Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said he was not bothered about who left the party.
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The JD(S) will now give an opportunity to local party workers to contest the byelections, he said.
Taking responsibility for the “current politics” in the State, he said he will not waste time in blame game. “All through my career, I have faced numerous challenges,” he said.