Ruling out possibility of the JD(S) coming to power on its own in the next elections, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that the party was the “B-team of the BJP”.
Addressing Congress workers in Hassan after a protest march over the corruption issue on Sunday, he said former Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy’s repeated claim that the JD(S) would win 123 seats in the next elections was impossible to achieve. “Can the JD(S) win so many seats? They don’t want any party to come to power with a full majority. They are expecting to win about 25 seats and with that number, they want to join hands with anybody to form the government”, he said.
Congress members led by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah taking out a protest march against the BJP government in Hassan on Sunday. | Photo Credit: PRAKASH HASSAN
Earlier, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, the Congress had given a chance to Mr. Kumaraswamy to rule the State, despite having won 80 seats. However, he failed in taking the legislators and Ministers into confidence. “He stayed in a hotel and hardly met the legislators and Ministers. This led to the collapse of the government. Now he blames the Congress for his failure. It is like a dancer who blamed the floor for his inability to perform”, he said.
Commenting on the BJP rule in the State and the Centre, he said the people are fed up with the present rule. The youth were not getting jobs. In order to divert the attention of public from real issues, the party and its allies had been targeting minorities by raking up issues like halal cut, hijab and imposing restrictons on Muslim traders in festivals. “The people should put an end to this government”, he said.
Hubballi incident
Earlier, speaking to presspersons, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Congress was not in favour of any particular religion. “We treat all people equally. Whoever created riots in Hubballi should be punished. But, innocents should not be arrested.”.
Congress party workers and leaders took part in the procession. Former MPs R. Dhruvanarayan, B.N. Chandrappa, former Minister B. Shivaramu, former MLC M.A. Gopalaswamy and others were present.
