Bengaluru: Two senior MLAs from the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka on Sunday quit politics blaming the former coalition government partners -- the Congress and the JD(S) -- for their decision.
Both the MLAs particularly blamed the attitude of former chief minister Siddaramaiah and the family politics played by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and his son.
Former JD(S) president and MLA from Mysuru H Vishwanath singled out Siddaramaiah for the downfall of the coalition government. “Why blame the BJP for the downfall of the Kumaraswamy government? It was all because of Siddaramaiah who treated the MLAs shabbily and without respect.
When the Congress lost the Lok Sabha elections, the party’s president Rahul Gandhi resigned. But when the party lost in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah shamelessly remained in power and never took responsibility,” he said.
His lust for power led to the downfall of the coalition government. But Siddaramaiah put the blame on BJP and Operation Kamala (poaching of MLAs) as the reason. This is falsehood being spread by the former CM, Vishwanath added.
The other MLA who quit was GT Devegowda, the JD(S) MLA who made Siddaramaiah bite the dust in his home town Chamundeswari. He too blamed Siddaramaiah and the HD Deve Gowda clan for treating the MLAs as commodities. There was hardly any democracy or respect for MLAs in JD(S), he said.
Both the MLAs said they were quitting out of sheer disgust with the present leaders who are selfish and arrogant. On Saturday, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy too indicated that he wants to retire from politics.
Meanwhile, the Congress and JD(S) informally split with both the parties deciding to fight each other in the next bypolls to the 17 Assembly seats. In another development, rebel MLAs are reportedly toying with the idea of forming a separate party in Karnataka.
