Bengaluru: In a candid confession, Janata Dal (S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy Saturday said he would have still occupied the chair of the chief minister if his party had allied with the BJP and not the Congress. He alleged that the Congress had ‘trapped’ him into an alliance.
He blamed former chief minister Siddaramaiah for sullying his reputation amongst the people in the state.
Speaking to the media in Mysuru, he said: "The goodwill I had earned in 2006-2007, over a period of 12 years, I lost everything due to allying with the Congress party. When I stepped down as the chief minister due to a power struggle with the BJP in 2006, I still had a following and the support of the people. After allying with the Congress in 2018, Siddaramaiah and his gang destroyed my reputation. I walked into their trap only because I agreed to the alliance because of Deve Gowda."
HDK also spoke about the alleged torture he had to undergo and the reason why he shed tears within a month of becoming the chief minister. "Why did I shed tears in just a month's time after I became CM in 2018? I knew what all was going on. The BJP did not hurt me that way the Congress has to my reputation,'' he added.
Kumaraswamy squarely blamed Siddaramaiah for the fall of the coalition government since the Congress leader nursed an ambition to become CM again.
However, he did not say that he will once again go with the BJP, adding that he did not want to hurt his father once again since he (HD Deve Gowda) continues to stick to his secular beliefs which is why he did not want the JD(S) to ally with the BJP.
But political circles have not missed the alleged bonhomie between Kumaraswamy and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa over the past few months. The two have met several times citing constituency-related development projects.
Interestingly, on the day that HDK opened up to the media, Yediyurappa bumped into Siddaramaiah and state Congress unit chief DK Shivakumar at the Belagavi airport.
