The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who has been in the centre of a political storm from the past fortnight, on Friday refused to be drawn into the barbs being traded between Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda and the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
On the day Mr. Siddaramaiah refuted charges made by Mr. Gowda, Mr. Kumaraswamy not only refused to react, but also said that it was “not the right time” for him to respond to the Congress leader.
“This is not the right time for me to respond to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s allegations. Political developments in the country are going in one direction. All secular forces have to remain united,” he tweeted on Friday evening.
Taking a stand that is divergent from that of his father’s, who has accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of bringing down the coalition government, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, “At this juncture, divergent views are not healthy. I will definitely respond to all [the allegations] at the right time.”
‘Unsure of future’
Meanwhile, JD(S) State president H.K. Kumaraswamy responded to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s comments on Mr. Gowda. “So far, Mr. Gowda had not spoken about breaking up the alliance with the Congress. It is not clear how the relationship would be in the coming days,” he told presspersons in Hassan on Friday. “There is no doubt that the JD(S) and the Congress are traditional opponents and have fought elections against each other. But, we came together to form the government only to keep the BJP out of power,” he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah’s statements showed that there was no possibility of understanding between the two parties in the coming elections, he said.
“During the Lok Sabha elections, there was an alliance between leaders of the two parties but that did not percolate to the workers. And that affected both the parties in the elections,” he said.
