×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Jaitley calls Kumaraswamy 'tragedy king'

Last Updated 16 July 2018, 19:55 IST

Mocking Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy as “tragedy king” and “bechara” (helpless), Union minister Arun Jaitley on Monday recalled the short life of such coalition governments supported by the Congress in the past.

Two days after Kumaraswamy said that he was not happy and was swallowing the pain like 'Vishakantha', Jaitley said in a Facebook post, “Karnataka situation is an obvious consequence of a non-ideological opportunistic alliance with no positive agenda. The basis of the negative agenda is ‘Keep Modi Out’. These ideologically flexible political groups have an extremely dubious track record of governance," he said.

At a gathering of party workers in Bengaluru on Saturday, a teary-eyed Kumaraswamy said, “ All of you are happy because your elder or younger brother has become the chief minister. But I am not happy. I am swallowing my own pain like poison like Vishakantha (Lord Shiva, who drank poison to save the world).”

Seeking to contrast the remarks of Kumaraswamy with the leadership provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jaitley said, “Modi has clearly demonstrated the advantages of a decisive leadership. India’s prime minister and his government have to overcome the challenges that India faces today. He cannot be seen like the chief minister of Karnataka, as a tragedy king. If such a coalition is a cup of poison, why even dream of inflicting it on the nation? The leader of the world’s fastest-growing economy cannot be a ‘bechara'.”

“The country has been watching with keen interest the developments in Karnataka in the past two months. It is a repeat of what the Congress did to Shri Chaudhary Charan Singh, Shri Chandrasekhar, Shri H D Deve Gowda and Shri I K Gujral? It is the obvious consequence of a non-ideological opportunistic alliance with no positive agenda. The basis of the negative agenda is ‘Keep Modi Out’”, he said.

“Such non-ideological opportunistic coalitions always get trapped within their own contradictions. Their only objective is survival and not service of the nation. Their longevity is suspect. If the prime minister of such a coalition has to weep before the cameras with a wish of how to exit from office, it will be a scenario worse than the policy paralysis of UPA-II. The Congress firmly believes that only members of one family can rule India. If anybody else gets a chance, he should be pushed to the desperation of throwing his hands up and weeping publicly,” Jaitley said.

“The last few days have witnessed a discussion about a fictional alternative. A group of disparate political parties are promising to come together. Some of their leaders are temperamental, the others occasionally change ideological positions. With many of them, such as TMC, DMK, TDP, BSP and the JD(S), the BJP has had an opportunity to share power. They frequently change political positions. They have supported the BJP claiming that it is in larger national interest and then turned turtle and opposed it in the name of secularism. These are ideologically flexible political groups. Stable politics is far from their political track record. Some amongst this disparate group have an extremely dubious track record of governance. Some leaders are maverick and others include those who are either convicted or charged with serious allegations of corruption,” the minister stated.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 16 July 2018, 11:29 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT