Bengaluru:  After a severe drubbing in the elections, cracks have emerged within the Congress party where party leaders are targeting former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah for the electoral debacle. And taking the lead in the criticism is none other than outgoing Speaker K.B. Koliwad, a staunch Congressman.

Koliwad, who had lost to an independent in Ranebennur, lashed out against Siddharamaiah and urged the national leaders of the party to reclaim the party from Siddharamaiah.

Stating that Siddharamaiah is 13 years junior to him, Koliwad said, “As a Speaker of the House, I have worked in favour of the Congress on several occasions. Congress will not benefit from Siddharamaiah. The party would perish under him. He does not even have a single drop of Congress blood in him. His actions, attitude and language spoiled the party’s fortunes.”

He claimed that the party had lost out owing to the “dictatorial” attitude of Siddharamaiah. “In the interest of the party, Siddharamaiah should be kept away from the Congress,” Koliwad said.

The outgoing Speaker did not stop at that. “It is true that two parties must come together to form a coalition government. But this man will not allow Kumaraswamy to become CM. He has lost humiliatingly in Chamundeshwari and scraped through in Badami. Siddharamaiah must be ashamed,” he said.

Koliwad said, “You all have seen what people have decided. I will personally request Rahul Gandhi not to give any post to Siddharamaiah. Rahul would listen to his mother Sonia Gandhi and I will tell them. He will never come to power in the future.”

He said the Siddharamaiah government had taken “unnecessary decisions” such as granting minority religious tag to Lingayat/ Veerashaiva community, which was one of the factors for the party’s dismal show.