Political rivals sharing a dais to display camaraderie in public may be a rarity in present times given the toxicity generated because of ideological differences. On Sunday, however, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K.S. Eshwarappa and the former MLA A.H. Vishwanath not only shared a dais but also reminisced their association. They just stopped short of heaping praise on one another.
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The occasion was the unveiling of a statue of Sangolli Rayanna at Doddakoppalu village in K.R. Nagar taluk of Mysuru district. The three leaders inaugurated the function by lighting the lamp and then took turns to speak. Perhaps sensing the bewilderment of the gathering over them being together at the event, Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Eshwarappa, and Mr. Vishwanath said they were not enemies but only political rivals.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said he and Mr. Vishwanath have a long association since student days. “We studied law in a private college in Mysuru and I was in the final year and Mr. Vishwanath was in the first year of the course. We floated an organisation called Kalidasa Vidyarthi Sangha and I became its president and Mr. Vishwanath was its general secretary,” recalled Mr. Siddaramaiah, pointing out that they wanted to assist Kuruba community students.
“There is no enmity between us and all rivalry is purely political,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah. What matters was human relationship, he added, and reiterated that there was no personal enmity between them.
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‘It’s all politics’
“Neither Mr. Vishwanath nor I have any property dispute to fight it over personally. It is all politics. He is in the BJP and I am in the Congress and I strive to ensure his defeat in elections and he does the same. But otherwise, we are not sworn enemies,” said the former Chief Minister.
Speaking in a similar tone, Mr. Eshwarappa recalled that he and Mr. Siddaramaiah had attended many functions and shared the dais during Kempe Gowda Jayanti, Ambedkar Jayanti, and Ramanujacharya Jayanti, and said there was nothing wrong in it.
“I had been highly critical of Mr. Siddaramaiah when he was the Chief Minister and he too has criticised me. We used to slug it out in the Assembly, but follow it up with a tea in the Speaker’s chamber,” said Mr. Eshwarappa.
On his part, Mr. Vishwanath said the contribution of Mr. Siddaramaiah to the development of Nandagad, where Sangolli Rayanna was hanged, was immense.