JOIN USCongress leaders sabotaged Mallikarjun Kharge's CM bid: H D Kumaraswamy
Dropping a new bomb, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said Wednesday that party supremo H D Deve Gowda proposed senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to become the chief minister when both parties entered into a coalition after the Assembly polls in 2018.
“Their own leaders stopped him from becoming the CM,” Kumaraswamy said, as part of the muckraking between the former allies.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress, Kumaraswmay in a series of tweets said the JD(S) was never interested in the coalition. It was the Congress that landed up at their doorsteps, he said. “Even when we said we did not want it, the Congress asked me to become the chief minister. Later, it began pressuring the government with its back-seat driving," he said.
Earlier this week, Kumaraswamy said the Congress had no moral right to criticise the BJP for "horse trading" as the party itself was involved in buyout of MLAs several times in the past. Taking objection to this, the Congress questioned the JD(S) as to why it agreed to form a coalition with Congress in the first place.
In a meeting between JD(S) and Congress leaders following the fractured mandate of the 2018 Assembly polls, Gowda suggested Kharge's name for the top post. But owing to internal bickering in Congress, the opportunity was snatched from Kharge, Kumaraswamy claimed. "Let the Congress introspect on who these leaders are. It will get an answer," he said.
Kharge, who is now a Rajya Sabha member, missed the chance of becoming the chief minister in 2013 when the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) favoured Siddaramaiah while electing its leader. The then KPCC president G Parameshwara could not claim the post as he lost the election from Koratagere. Both the leaders belong to SC (Right). Ever since, the issue of making someone from the SC community as the CM has been contentious, especially for the Congress. So, raking up Kharge’s name is seen as Kumaraswamy’s attempt to hit the Congress where it hurts the most.
“While the Congress has termed JD(S) as an ‘irrelevant’ party, is anyone in Congress willing to answer in how many states their party is relevant and active?” Kumaraswamy said.