Janata Dal (Secular) leaders have come down heavily on former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his comments on the JD(S) and its leader H.D. Kumaraswamy. Former Minister H.D. Revanna and party State president H.K. Kumaraswamy have criticised the Congress leader and said it was the Congress which sought the JD(S) support to form the coalition government in Karnataka.
Mr. Revanna, at a press conference in Hassan on Monday, said the people of the State would teach a lesson to the Congress for the comments made by the former Chief Minister. “Both the national parties are afraid of the JD(S). The whole State knows who asked H.D. Kumaraswamy to accept the Chief Minister’s post. We never went to their doorsteps seeking an opportunity to form the government.”
Reacting to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s comments on Mr. Kumaraswamy, Mr. Revanna said, “Mr. Kumaraswamy weeps when he meets poor people. Our national president Deve Gowda also responds emotionally whenever he is upset with the way the developments are happening all around. Ours is a party with poor people of the land”, he said.
Regarding the CBI raids on KPCC president D.K .Shivakumar, Mr. Revanna said during the Lok Sabha polls, the raids were conducted on leaders of the JD(S) and the Congress. “The raids were all politically motivated. I appeal to the Prime Minister to conduct raids on all leaders, irrespective of the party they belong to”, he said.
Earlier in the day Mr. H.K.Kumaraswamy, in a separate press conference, said “Mr. Siddaramaiah should stop making such allegations against the JD(S). Though Mr. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister, it was the Congress which ruled the State. We were never sat on their shoulder to rule the State. They took the support of our shoulder to rule.”
Referring to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s comments on Mr. H.D. Kumaraswamy’s tearful, emotional speeches, the party president said, “Our leader is a kind-hearted man. He responds to problems of poor people emotionally. But, Mr. Siddaramaiah does not understand the feelings of the poor”.
The JD(S) leader exuded confidence that his party would win the by-polls.
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