Hubballi/Belagavi/Mysuru, May 14: Cracks in the JD(S)-Congress alliance appear to be widening by the day as a section of Congress leaders, who are rooting for the return of Siddaramaiah as chief minister, continued their clamour despite frowns from the JD(S) even while the Congress and BJP continued to squabble over the stability of the coalition.
A day after state JD(S) president AH Vishwanath questioned Siddaramaiah’s ability to lead, saying the Congress would have returned to power had he performed as chief minister, Congress leaders on Monday expressed their disapproval, while JD(S) leaders HD Deve Gowda and his son and chief minister HD Kumaraswamy chose to remain silent. It’s a well- known fact that Siddaramaiah and Vishwanath are arch-rivals. Both belong to the Kuruba community.
Siddaramaiah, on Monday, took to Twitter to rebut Vishwanath. “Even if one does good work, the atmosphere is cruel. History is witness that former CM D Devaraj Urs was defeated despite the good works he had done. People who looked upon him as their leader deserted him. I can claim with pride of being the only CM to have implemented all promises made in the poll manifesto. These have been compiled in a book also and I am ready for a public debate. I don’t wish to argue with people who want to claw themselves,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.
Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said no JD(S) person can speak in the manner Vishwanath did as Siddaramaiah was chairman of the coalition’s coordination committee. Taking exception to Vishwananth’s statement, revenue minister RV Desphande, said: “Vishwanath should understand that Siddaramaiah, when he was the CM, had released the highest fund for developmental work. I was part of the government eight times. In terms of development and release of grants, Siddaramaiah did an exceptional job. That doesn’t mean that all the previous governments failed to deliver.”
He quoted the example of former CM SM Krishna saying sometimes a government fails to return to power despite delivering the best. “One fails even after performing and one wins without doing anything,” Desphande maintained.
Meanwhile, education minister GT Devegowda dismissed his party president’s comments urging the Congress not to take it seriously. “Elected representative must speak sensibly. Siddaramaiah himself has said CM HD Kumaraswamy will complete five years in the post,” Devegowda said.
Meanwhile in Belagavi, forests and environmental minister Satish Jarkiholi on Monday said Congress and JD(S) leaders have the capacity conduct counter poaching operations to protect the coalition government if the BJP tries to destabilise it.
Speaking to reporters here, the minister said there are some BJP MLAs who are in touch with him and their names would be revealed at an appropriate time. “I will not say that 20-30 MLAs are in contact with me like the BJP does, but the MLAs who are in contact with me are sufficient to protect the coalition government,” Jarkiholi said.
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