JD(S), Cong conspired to humble Siddaramaiah: BSY

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has again come to the rescue of former chief minister Siddaramaiah, much to the discomfiture of the coalition government.

Batting for the Congress leader, Yeddyurappa on Sunday said the JD(S) and the Congress had hatched a ‘systematic conspiracy’ to keep Siddaramaiah away from politics.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Yeddyurappa said Siddaramaiah would take a “right decision at the right time,” fuelling speculations.

Yeddyurappa’s remarks come a day after Siddaramaiah declared that his opponents had “teamed up” and plotted his defeat in Chamundeshwari constituency, during the Assembly elections held in May.

Speaking at an event in S Hosakote village in Nanjangud taluk on Saturday, Siddaramaiah had said that his opponents were jealous of him and feared that he would come back as chief minister.

“They teamed up like Rahu, Ketu and Shani to defeat me in Chamundeshwari. But if I had contested in Varuna, they wouldn’t have been able to defeat me. I would have become chief minister again,” he had said.

Yeddyurappa blamed the Congress and the JD(S) leaders for “humiliating” both Siddaramaiah and the Kuruba community that he represents. He said Siddaramaiah was referring to the JD(S), when he made the ‘Rahu, Ketu and Shani’ analogy.

He said that the JD(S) fielded its leader G T Devegowda from Chamundeshwari with the sole intention of “humiliating” Siddaramaiah.

“Both the Congress and the JD(S) - especially the JD(S) - conspired against Siddaramaiah and ensured his defeat (in Chamundeshwari) by fielding Devegowda. The JD(S) shouldn’t have fielded Devegowda from the constituency. Siddaramaiah was the chief minister then and he was made to suffer a humiliating defeat. They all got together and humiliated him. It’s very surprising that he is still in the Congress despite suffering such humiliations,” he said.

Yeddyurappa had made similar remarks at the time of the formation of the coalition government and during H D Kumaraswamy’s coronation as chief minister.

The coalition partners - especially Kumaraswamy - had breathed a sigh of relief after enduring a fortnight-long political crisis, which eventually fizzled out. The dissent raised by the Jarkiholi brothers and the subsequent attempts by the BJP to poach the ruling party MLAs had given sleepless nights to both the Congress and the JD(S).