Nobody can touch me for at least a year: Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy

BENGALURU: Hitting back at those predicting the fall of the coalition government anytime, Chief Minister  H D Kumaraswamy on Friday asserted, “nobody can touch me for at least one year.”

Driving home the message that the government would last at least till the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and if possible even beyond, the CM said, “Some people are questioning as to how long the government will last. I want to tell them that nobody can touch me for one year. Nobody can destabilise this government till next Lok Sabha election,” he said in his address at a conference of CA and Auditors.  He admitted that running a coalition government is a challenge. Hinting at hurdles within the coalition for fulfilling his promise on farm loan waiver he said, “Some people are throwing hurdles for implementation of farm loan waiver as they fear JD(S) will get credit for it.”

Kumaraswamy’s assertion has lent credence to the view that this government may not last beyond 2019 Lok Sabha polls. According to political observers, by referring to “one year” the CM seem to be indirectly hinting at Congress’ compulsion to support the party till 2019 polls. “Congress has very limited options. It has to support regional parties and play the second fiddle. That is exactly what the party is doing in Karnataka,’ said political analyst Prof Harish Ramaswamy.

According to him, if the Congress does well in 2019 polls, it will become more assertive and may even demand CM’s post. Then, Kumaraswamy may feel threatened, he added.