File photo of Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar after his arrest in 2019.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: Brandishing his loyalty to Congress, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has claimed that he preferred going to jail by rejecting a plum post - akin to the one he holds now - in exchange for helping the BJP to power in 2019.
Shivakumar said this Wednesday during the launch of his biography - DK Shivakumar: A Symbol of Loyalty - written by KM Raghu.
The Opposition BJP viewed Shivakumar's statement as a threat to the Congress high command amid his power struggle with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
At the event, Shivakumar recalled the 2019 political turmoil when lawmakers in the governing Congress-JD(S) coalition resigned.
"I was in Kanakapura...my friends here know that I came running when 10 people (MLAs) went to the Speaker's office to submit their resignation. I brought back 5-6 MLAs to my quarters," Shivakumar said.
"I got a call from the BJP in Delhi. I won't say who, but the call came from an income tax auditor. My brother (DK Suresh) was present. There was a director-general here who spoke as well. He was on another phone. I was asked to choose between becoming deputy CM or going to jail," Shivakumar said.
"What was I to do? Party loyalty...at a very young age, I got an Assembly election ticket from Rajiv Gandhi. I received cooperation from Bangarappa. I've come this far. I said I prefer jail than becoming deputy CM. I could've become (deputy CM) then. I don't know what else would have happened politically. But I stood by my party, its workers, ideology, the path in which I grew and secular principles," Shivakumar said.
The Congress-JD(S) coalition, headed by HD Kumaraswamy, eventually fell in July 2019 when 17 MLAs resigned. The BJP came to power.
Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in September 2019 in a money-laundering case.
"Shivakumar doesn't do anything without a plan. He's sending a message to Siddaramaiah and the Congress leadership that he has other choices if he's not made the chief minister," Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka claimed.
Expelled BJP lawmaker Basanagouda Patil Yatnal claimed that it was Shivakumar who wanted to strike a deal with BJP. "I said 5-6 years ago that Shivakumar approached one late union minister with an offer that he would form the government with BJP if cases against him were dropped," he said.