Karnataka: If there was friendship with BJP, he would have become CM, Congress ruined it - HD Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru, Ta. Sunday 06 December 2020

Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, while targeting the Congress, said that if he had been with the BJP, he would have been the Chief Minister till now, but by forming an alliance with the Congress, he lost everything.

"I would still be the chief minister if I had maintained good relations with the BJP," Janata Dal Secular leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said in Mysore. In May 2006-2007 and over a 12-year period, I achieved what I achieved by forming an alliance with the Congress Party.

"We have gained the trust of the people of the state in May 2006-07 and maintained it for the next 12 years, but by joining hands with the Congress, we have lost that too," he said. "After forming an alliance with the Congress in 2018, Siddaramaiah and his group destroyed my reputation," Kumaraswamy said. I just fell into their trap, as I had agreed to the alliance because of Devgoda. He made it clear that he was not blaming Devgoda for this as he understood and respected his father's lifelong commitment to secular identity.

The former chief minister also said, after becoming the chief minister in 2018, why did I shed tears for only one month? I knew what was going on. The Bharatiya Janata Party did not hurt me as much in 2008 as the Congress did in 2018.

The 2018 election will not give anyone a majority

In the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2018, two years ago, when no party got a clear majority, the Congress and Janata Dal, which were contesting against each other, formed a government and HD Kumaraswamy was made the Chief Minister.

The two parties also contested the Lok Sabha elections together last year, but later internal differences deepened in the coalition and the coalition government collapsed due to the revolt of some MLAs.

Reacting to HD Kumaraswamy's allegations, Congress leader Siddaramaiah alleged that Kumaraswamy is an expert in lying, he can lie according to the situation for politics. Was it our fault to make Janata Dal (S) Chief Minister even though it got 37 seats?