Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah on Tuesday reiterated that the doors of Congress are permanently shut to the leaders who defected to the BJP.. “I have said this on the floor of the House and my stand on the re-entry of former Congressmen (defectors) into the party fold will not change,” he clarified.
Speaking to reporters in Mandya, Mr. Siddaramaiah, who campaigned for the party candidate contesting the Legislative Council polls, said some leaders of other parties have expressed their wish to join the Congress. “I cannot say who those leaders are. It will be known in the days ahead,” he said, while replying to queries.
“I have no hatred against leaders like H.D. Deve Gowda, H.D. Kumaraswamy, B.S. Yediyurappa or Basavaraj Bommai. I oppose them as I have political and ideological differences against them. I am also against bringing caste into politics as I believe in secular principles. I won’t combine caste in politics,” the former Chief Minister said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Replying to questions on dynastic politics, indirectly targeting the JD(S), Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “I am not saying it’s (dynastic politics) not there. But, the JD(S) is seen as the party of one family. My son is also an MLA. If people wanted, others could have been made the legislator. It’s wrong to impose a candidate belonging to a family against the people’s wish.”