Bengaluru, May 7: In an embarrassment to former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has said that the former unnecessarily taking credit for the latter’s political rise.
Bengaluru, May 7: In an embarrassment to former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has said that the former unnecessarily taking credit for the latter’s political rise.
Speaking at the ‘Meet the Press’ in the Press Club of Bangalore on Sunday, the CM said: “Deve Gowda did not groom me. He had no role in my political growth. In fact, it was (former chief minister) Ramakrishna Hegde who recognised me. He made me the president of the Kannada Kavalu Samiti, and later, a minister.”
“Deve Gowda is a leader, a former chief minister and a prime minister. But it’s not right on his part to claim that he groomed me,” he said.
Siddaramaiah also said that he was one of the leaders responsible for Gowda occupying the chief minister’s post in 1994. “The JD(S) won the elections in 1994 only because of the collective campaigning by leaders like Hegde, S R Bommai, M P Prakash and Rachaiah. Deve Gowda alone cannot be credited for that victory. He became chief minister because of us,” he added.
Taking a dig at Gowda for unsuccessful attempts at contesting from two constituencies, Siddaramaiah claimed that he would however “comfortably” win in both Chamundeshwari and Badami segments.
He said that when the Janata Dal split and became JD(U) and JD(S), he had stayed on with the latter, despite knowing that it would “never come to power”
When asked about Gowda’s accusations that he had met BJP leader L K Advani to explore his prospects with the saffron party, Siddaramaiah said, “It’s a lie. I have never approached the BJP. I know Advani. But there has been no occasion to meet him.”
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