Triggering a fresh political controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party MLC and former Minister C.P. Yogeshwar on Thursday claimed that former Chief Minister and Janata Dal (S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy has been supporting the BJP government and “getting all his work done”, including transfer of officials and nominations to local bodies.
He also taunted Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar, alleging that he too often meets the Chief Minister to “get his work done”. Both Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Shivakumar want the BJP government under B.S. Yediyurappa to stay in power for the next three years, he claimed.
Unable to deal with the dominance of Mr. Shivakumar and his brother and MP D.K. Suresh in Ramanagaram district, Mr. Kumaraswamy had gone soft on the BJP government for the last one year, Mr. Yogeshwar said. The brothers have been dominating in Ramanagaram district administration by securing power in the city municipal council and taluk panchayat. This has resulted in a tussle for dominance in the region between Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Kumaraswamy, said the BJP leader.
Fearing loss of control over the district, Mr. Kumaraswamy has been “supporting” the government. “Indirectly, Mr. Kumaraswamy completely supports the government,” he said. Mr. Yogeshwar appealed to the voters of the district to support the BJP, instead of either Mr. Shivakumar or Mr. Kumaraswamy.
Denied
Both the Opposition leaders dismissed the allegations. Mr. Shivakumar claimed that Mr. Yogeshwar had, in fact, come to meet him 15 days ago and expressed his willingness to join the Congress, but he had advised Mr. Yogeshwar to remain in the BJP. Mr. Kumaraswamy said that he was not interested in “adjustment politics” and was not attacking the government at this stage because it could affect its efforts to handle the COVID-19 situation. He claimed that both Mr. Yogeshwar and Mr. Shivakumar were trying to weaken the JD(S) in Ramanagaram.
Mr. Yogeshwar had lost to Mr. Kumaraswamy in Channapatna in the 2018 Assembly elections. Later, he played a key role in Operation Kamala to bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. Sworn in as MLC on Thursday, he is one of the ministerial aspirants and a Vokkaliga leader from Ramanagaram.