Releases book Chalisuva Bande D.K. Shivakumar

Mysuru: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has said that he bears no ill will towards former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah or anyone else, adding that he had grown in politics while working under former Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and H.D. Kumaraswamy.

He was speaking at the release of the book ‘Chalisuva Bande D.K. Shivakumar’, a research-based work authored by Dr. Y.N. Ramya, at Senate Bhavan in Manasagangothri campus here yesterday.

“I bore no ill will towards Siddaramaiah when I worked under him. That was my commitment. Though I have several political differences with Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, I joined his Cabinet at the direction of the Congress High Command. I bore him no ill will either as long as he headed the Government. Whatever people may say, nothing is bigger than one’s conscience. The trust of the people is most important to me,” he said.

Taking a dig at the Opposition, Shivakumar said its leaders could not digest the fact that he had become CM. He asserted that he would not bow to anyone and reiterated that he harboured no ill will towards anybody.

Ministership for Sait

He also expressed disappointment over his inability to make Tanveer Sait a Minister, saying that circumstances had prevented it.

“I have reached this stage after climbing the political ladder over the past 40 years. My life is an open book and I will continue to do my duty. I believe in making history rather than reading historical texts. The people have given me power and I know how hard Congress leaders and workers have worked to bring the party to power in the State,” he said.

Recalling his days in jail, Shivakumar said he had never lost confidence and always believed that he would one day become Chief Minister after bringing the Congress to power.

“People visited me when I was in jail and their support gave me strength. I can never forget the support extended by the people of my constituency. However, I feel bad that I am unable to give them the time they expect from me,” he said.

CM’s book

Shivakumar also said that he had written a book titled ‘Gandhi Bharat’, which would be released shortly. The book deals with Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggle and the Belagavi session of the Congress. He recalled that he had earlier written ‘Neerina Hejje’ when he was Water Resources Minister and that the book was released by Siddaramaiah.

Suttur Mutt Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji, Adichunchanagiri Mutt Seer Dr. Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji and Mysuru branch Seer Sri Someshwarnatha Swamiji graced the occasion.

Agriculture Minister P.M. Narendraswamy, MLAs Tanveer Sait, K. Harishgowda, Darshan Dhruvanarayan, A.R. Krishnamurthy, H.M. Ganesh Prasad and A.S. Ponnanna, MP Sunil Bose, MLC Umashree and University of Mysore Vice-Chancellor Prof. N.K. Loknath were among those present.