<p>Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday dismissed Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s statement about him ‘dragging caste for chair’ as a joke.</p>.<p>“I am not surprised by the response to my article by JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy. I have treated his comment ‘Siddaramaiah has dragged caste for chair’ as joke. Kumaraswamy and his father H D Deve Gowda are definitely not casteist. They are against their own community. They believe in family politics.”</p>.Study recommends pol quota, scholarships for Nadaf, Pinjaras in Karnataka.<p>Kumaraswamy’s comment was in reaction to an article by Siddaramaiah for a Kannada daily on February 20, where the chief minister had claimed: “My caste is also a reason for many of the attacks and accusations against me. They burn with rage that a shepherd who should have herded sheep became a chief minister and is tabling several Budgets by standing on equal footing with financial experts.”</p>.<p>Stepping up his attack on the first family of the JD(S), the chief minister said: “For them (Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy), caste is just a vote bank. For the sake of their greed, they have finished leaders from their own community.”</p>.<p>He wondered why Vokkaliga leaders such as Puttaswamy Gowda, C S Puttegowda, Javaregowda, K M Vishwanath, Hanumegowda, K N Nagegowda, K R Pete Krishna, Y K Ramaiah, C Byre Gowda, Bacche Gowda, B L Shankar, C Narayanaswamy, Chalauvarayaswamy and others left Deve Gowda and came out.</p>.<p>Only the Congress had recognised Vokkaliga leaders and politically moulded them, Siddaramaiah claimed.</p>.<p><strong>HDK retaliates</strong></p>.<p>Kumaraswamy hit back at Siddaramaiah, accusing the latter of “seeking shelter under those 13 persons for his political selfishness.”</p>.<p>“I read the list of Vokkaliga leaders that you mentioned. By mentioning their names, you have made fun of them too… For your political selfishness, you have sought shelter under those 13 persons.”</p>.<p>“All of them enjoyed power due to Deve Gowda’s hardwork, grew well and jumped ship just like you. If Deve Gowda had considered family as ultimate, none of them, including you, would’ve become MLAs, ministers and MPs. What do you say? All of you axed the tree that gave you shelter.”</p>.<p>He urged Siddaramaiah to show “large-heartedness” about the Vokkaligas and speak about the purported “power-sharing” pact between the chief minister and his deputy D K Shivakumar (a Vokkaliga).</p>
<p>Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday dismissed Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s statement about him ‘dragging caste for chair’ as a joke.</p>.<p>“I am not surprised by the response to my article by JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy. I have treated his comment ‘Siddaramaiah has dragged caste for chair’ as joke. Kumaraswamy and his father H D Deve Gowda are definitely not casteist. They are against their own community. They believe in family politics.”</p>.Study recommends pol quota, scholarships for Nadaf, Pinjaras in Karnataka.<p>Kumaraswamy’s comment was in reaction to an article by Siddaramaiah for a Kannada daily on February 20, where the chief minister had claimed: “My caste is also a reason for many of the attacks and accusations against me. They burn with rage that a shepherd who should have herded sheep became a chief minister and is tabling several Budgets by standing on equal footing with financial experts.”</p>.<p>Stepping up his attack on the first family of the JD(S), the chief minister said: “For them (Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy), caste is just a vote bank. For the sake of their greed, they have finished leaders from their own community.”</p>.<p>He wondered why Vokkaliga leaders such as Puttaswamy Gowda, C S Puttegowda, Javaregowda, K M Vishwanath, Hanumegowda, K N Nagegowda, K R Pete Krishna, Y K Ramaiah, C Byre Gowda, Bacche Gowda, B L Shankar, C Narayanaswamy, Chalauvarayaswamy and others left Deve Gowda and came out.</p>.<p>Only the Congress had recognised Vokkaliga leaders and politically moulded them, Siddaramaiah claimed.</p>.<p><strong>HDK retaliates</strong></p>.<p>Kumaraswamy hit back at Siddaramaiah, accusing the latter of “seeking shelter under those 13 persons for his political selfishness.”</p>.<p>“I read the list of Vokkaliga leaders that you mentioned. By mentioning their names, you have made fun of them too… For your political selfishness, you have sought shelter under those 13 persons.”</p>.<p>“All of them enjoyed power due to Deve Gowda’s hardwork, grew well and jumped ship just like you. If Deve Gowda had considered family as ultimate, none of them, including you, would’ve become MLAs, ministers and MPs. What do you say? All of you axed the tree that gave you shelter.”</p>.<p>He urged Siddaramaiah to show “large-heartedness” about the Vokkaligas and speak about the purported “power-sharing” pact between the chief minister and his deputy D K Shivakumar (a Vokkaliga).</p>
