Vishwanath hits out at Siddaramaiah

The tension between the Congress and the JD(S) over the controversial ‘Siddaramaiah-for-CM’ issue refused to die down, as senior leaders from both parties once again took pot-shots at each other on Sunday.

State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao asked his JD(S) counterpart A H Vishwanath to speak “responsibly” as the latter questioned Siddaramaiah’s contribution to the state as the chief minister. “He (Vishwanath) is state president of the JD(S). He should be speak responsibly,” Gundu Rao told reporters in Hubballi.

Vishwanath, while speaking to the media in Mysuru, said Siddaramaiah cannot become CM again and sought to know his contribution during his stint as the chief minister. “He was CM once. It’s over.

He (Siddaramaiah) cannot declare himself as CM now. What is his contribution to the state’s development,” he asked.

The JD(S) state president said one cannot compare the Siddaramaiah government to that of Devaraj Urs, Ramakrishna Hegde, S Bangarappa, H D Deve Gowda, M Veerappa Moily and H D Kumaraswamy. “There was nothing special about his (Siddaramaiah) administration. In fact, the Congress’ strength was reduced from 122 MLAs to 78 MLA (in the 2018 Assembly polls) because of him,” Vishwanath said.

The JD(S) state president described the demand for Siddaramaiah as CM again as “chamchagiri” (sycophancy), and claimed that Kumaraswamy will complete his full term as chief minister.

Reacting to Vishwanath’s comments, Gundu Rao said it was unnecessary for him to talk about the 2018 results. “That election is over and we have formed the coalition government. As far as the demand for making Siddaramaiah CM again, some Congress leaders have made that out of affection,” he said.

Siddaramaiah in Kalaburagi termed Vishwanath as jealous and said that he should not be taken seriously. “It’s not necessary to react to him. I will talk about it in the coordination committee meeting,” he said.