Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Saturday rebuffed criticism levelled against him over the grand marriage ceremony he is planning for his son Nikhil.
Reacting to former Minister A.H. Vishwanath’s remarks questioning the need for extravagant weddings in light of the country’s poor economic condition, he referred to the expenditure the Bharatiya Janata Party had incurred in the recent byelections.
Claiming that the saffron party spent ₹60 crore to ₹100 crore in each Assembly constituency, Mr. Kumaraswamy asked Mr. Vishwanath whether such spending could be justified in times of economic slowdown. “Didn’t they understand the condition of the poor when they spent such huge sums in the bypolls?” he asked.
Saying that he did not need to learn lessons from anyone, Mr. Kumaraswamy defended his decision to invite to the wedding the people who had blessed him and stood by him and his family in politics.
The April 17 wedding in Ramanagaram will also be an occasion to organise and strengthen the Janata Dal (S). The party workers will join hands with the family to organise it, he said.
On GTD’s future
Mr. Kumaraswamy also said he was not in a hurry to take action against former Minister G.T. Deve Gowda, who has been repeatedly criticising the JD(S) leadership.
He said that in any case, he could not take a decision on Mr. Gowda on his own and would have to consult the other leaders in the party. Mr. Gowda has incurred the ire of the JD(S) leadership by not only hobnobbing with BJP leaders, but also lashing out at JD(S) leaders.
“Tomorrow, the BJP government may fall and our government may form. Anything is possible in politics,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.
Reacting to the resignation of former MLC Ramesh Babu from the JD(S), he said his criticism of the party leadership was hardly surprising. “It is natural for people to criticise the leadership when they are not given power and position,” the former Chief Minister said.
