Bengaluru: Two days after a video-clip where he is seen speaking disapprovingly of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s decision to present a full-fledged budget surfaced, former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, who is currently undergoing naturopathy treatment at Dharmasthala, is in the news again, with another video-clip in which he expresses doubts about the survival of the coalition Government beyond the Lok Sabha polls, going viral on Tuesday.
In the second video-clip, Siddharamaiah, who heads the Co-ordination Committee of the coalition Government, is reported to have said that the Congress-JD(S) coalition Government would surely last till the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and its future after that would depend on the political circumstances. In the video, the ex-CM, in his usual tone and mannerism says, “What five years? Let us see what happens after Parliamentary elections. The coalition Government will continue till LS elections. We will have to see what developments take place after that.”
The former CM had earlier expressed dissatisfaction over the new Government choosing to table a full-fledged budget while arguing that a supplementary budget would suffice. While Siddharamaiah continues to convey his displeasure over allowing Kumaraswamy to present a full-fledged budget and going ahead with his plans for farm loan waiver without getting approval of the Co-ordination Committee, several disgruntled Congress MLAs, who missed a Cabinet berth and are feeling neglected in the party, are getting more vocal causing discomfiture to the Govt.
CM complains to Congress High Command
Even as ex-CM Siddharamaiah, who started as a troubleshooter, has now turned into a troublemaker by making his displeasure known with regular jibes at his successor, CM Kumaraswamy is said to have asked the Congress High Command to intervene and put an end to Siddu’s jibes.
Reacting to Siddharamaiah’s comments casting doubts on the Government’s survival beyond the LS polls, JD(S) Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda said in Bengaluru on Tuesday that AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal would look into the issues raised by the former CM and ensure smooth functioning of the Government.
BJP to wait and watch
Even as Siddharamaiah is unhappy over being reportedly sidelined in the coalition Government and also against the style of functioning of Kumaraswamy, BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa’s sudden visit to Ahmedabad to meet the Party’s National President Amit Shah has set off speculations on the possibility of BJP renewing efforts to shore up the numbers to form the Government in the State.
The residence of B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is also the Opposition Leader in the State Assembly, was a beehive of activity on Tuesday after he returned from Ahmedabad. Yeddyurappa’s sudden visit to Ahmedabad, accompanied by his confidant Basavaraj Bommai, a senior party MLA, had sparked speculations that he had travelled to obtain a go ahead from Amit Shah to exploit the simmering discontent among the partners in the JD(S)-Congress coalition Government.
But in an anti-climax of sorts, the former CM insisted that the BJP will not attempt to pull the rug from under the State’s coalition Government at least for now.
Speaking to press persons at Bengaluru on Tuesday, Yeddyurappa maintained that the BJP will not fish in troubled waters.
He said that the meeting between him (BSY) and Shah was primarily to discuss the strategy for the 2019 LS elections and to extend an invitation to him (Shah) to attend the Party’s State Executive Committee meeting in Bengaluru on June 29.
However, sources said while that may be the BJP’s public stand, the issue of bringing down the Government was discussed during Yeddyurappa-Shah meeting and that Shah had asked the State BJP Unit to wait and watch the situation.
This post was published on June 27, 2018 6:49 pm