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Will fight together against Congress govt, says Yediyurappa; backs Kumaraswamy
Senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said whatever HD Kumaraswamy said about corruption in the Congress government is true and “I back his statement”
BENGALURU: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday backed up Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy who launched a sharp attack on the ruling Congress government in Karnataka and declared that the two parties will together fight against the state’s Siddaramaiah-led government.
“Whatever HD Kumaraswamy said is true and I back his statement. We will fight together in future,” Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru on Tuesday, referring to Kumaraswamy’s allegations on Monday that officials in the chief minister’s office were demanding ₹30 lakh in bribes to issue transfer order for bureaucrats. Kumaraswamy also claimed that there were “syndicates” in the state road transport corporation and sub-registrar offices.
Responding to Yediyurappa’s statement, Kumaraswamy said that it will probably happen by the end of this year or after the Parliament election. “I don’t want to particularly name anyone. Anything may happen. It will not take too much time. Most probably, it will happen this year-end or after the Parliament election. For that, we will have to wait,” said Kumaraswamy on the possibility of an arrangement with the BJP.
Kumaraswamy’s JD (S) delivered its worst-ever performance in the state elections held in May this year, winning just 19 seats, down from the 37 assembly segments it won in 2018. The Congress won 135 of the assembly’s 224 seats while the BJP, which was in power and had hoped for another term, ended up with just 66 seats.
The JD(S) and BJP forged an alliance in 2006 when Kumaraswamy was first elevated as chief minister and Yediyurappa was his deputy. The power-sharing formula lasted about 20 months and collapsed in October 2007.
There has been speculation that the JD(S) and BJP could arrive at an arrangement again, particularly after the former PM HD Deve Gowda first attended the event to inaugurate the new parliament building in May and then skipped the anti-BJP opposition alliance meetings, saying that all political parties have been associated with the BJP in the past.
“I can analyse in detail about this country’s politics, what is the use? Show me one party which has not associated with the BJP, either directly or indirectly. Show me one party in the whole country, then I will answer,” Deve Gowda said in June.
