Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, May 13: The lack of understanding and underlying enmity that was evident among the lower ranks of the Congress and the JD(S) now seem to have percolated to the level of presidents. While state president of the JD(S), A H Vishwanath, entered the war field and fired his first salvo at former chief minister, Siddaramaiah, both Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, gave sharp reactions.

In response to Siddaramaiah's claim that he was expelled from the JD(S) for having supported the minorities, backward classes and the Dalits, Vishwanath said that the credit for creating an environment for elevating Siddaramaiah to the position of chief minister should go to the JD(S). He also said, referring to the demand for elevating Siddaramaiah to the post of the chief minister that the chairman of the coordination committee of the coalition government can wait till 2022 for that to happen. He also wondered what Siddaramaiah had achieved during his tenure. Siddaramaiah reacted by saying that these statements have emanated because of a sense of envy Vishwanath has been going through, and said he does not deem it necessary to give any response.

Siddaramaiah and A H Vishwanath 

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, said that Vishwanath, being the president of a party that is the coalition partner in the state, should not have made this statement, and that he needs to stick to coalition principles. He agreed that both parties have to follow the principles of coalition politics. "I do not know under what circumstances Vishwanath said that no development happened in Karnataka during the five years of Congress rule. This statement was improper," he stated.

In a bid to cool the nerves, in-charge of state Congress affairs, K C Venugopal, who is on a visit to the state, said that some of the legislators have been demanding to make Siddaramaiah the state chief minister, and in a democracy their opinions cannot be suppressed.

Chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, who spent two days at a resort at Madikeri, took part in a private function at Maddur in Mandya district on Sunday. He returned without showing interest in giving any response to the curious media persons present there, and by his conduct, expressed his intention to continue to keep distance from reporters.