Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, party leader C B Suresh Babu and JD(S) youth president Nikhil Kumaraswamy at the party’s silver jubilee event in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Credit: DH Photo/B K Janardhan
Bengaluru: JD(S) leaders, including its national president H D Deve Gowda, rebutted on Saturday Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement that he would not have been allowed to become the chief minister had he been with the regional party.
Addressing the party's silver jubilee event, Deve Gowda said he had gone to Sonia Gandhi with a request to make Siddaramaiah the CM.
"He might have forgotten, but Sonia Gandhi is alive, let him go and check with her about my request to her to make him chief minister. Siddaramaiah, don't forget the path you walked and there should be a little honesty while speaking," Gowda told the CM.
The former prime minister even reminded Siddaramaiah of the opportunities given to him when he was in JD(S).
"Many leaders, including Ramakrishna Hegde, advised me not to promote Siddaramaiah, but I ignored them all and made him finance minister. Do you think he studied at Oxford University and was an economist?," Gowda said.
The former PM said, "He was not a Supreme Court advocate, not even a High Court advocate. He might have appeared in court as lawyer in a few cases in Mysuru. But I made him finance minister. I regret the decision today".
Gowda also spoke about the trouble he and his party for office space.
Union Minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy recalled an incident when Siddaramaiah refused to attend a public event, just because his photograph was missing from the party's banner.
JD(S) youth president Nikhil Kumaraswamy too asked the CM to go back in time and reflect on how he was treated in JD(S) and not to forget the path he walked.
"I want to tell Siddaramanna not to forget that Deve Gowda and the JD(S) took him all the way to the deputy chief minister's position," he said.
Three days ago, at an event in Chamarajanagar, Siddaramaiah said he would have never been CM, if he continued in JD(S).