'Your time is over in politics': Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah takes dig at Deve Gowda in his home turf

Launching a scathing attack on JD(S) supremo in his native, Siddaramaiah accused the former PM of not allowing others to grow politically.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made sharp remarks against former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda during his recent visit to Hassan, declaring that "the Deve Gowda era is over."

Former Prime Minister of India and Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Devegowda shakes hand with the Karnataka chief minister of Karnataka and Congress leader Siddaramaiah . File Photo

According to PTI, the statement came during the ‘Janakalyana Samavesha’ event on Thursday, where Siddaramaiah accused the Janata Dal (Secular) leader of losing moral credibility by aligning with communal forces.

Siddaramaiah targeted Gowda for his political strategies and recent comments about efforts to remove the Congress government in Karnataka. “By joining hands with communal forces, you have lost the morality to have ‘secular’ in your party's name,” Siddaramaiah said according to the report. He recalled Deve Gowda's speeches from the 2019 Lok Sabha election, emphasizing that Gowda had declared BJP would not return to power and even made statements suggesting leaving the country if Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.

During his address, Siddaramaiah also questioned the political integrity of both Deve Gowda and his son, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H D Kumaraswamy. He alleged that both had undermined BJP leader B S Yediyurappa’s government in the past.

“In 2006, Kumaraswamy became the CM but betrayed Yediyurappa, leading to the coalition government's collapse. Again, in 2018, he became the CM with our support but failed to protect the government,” Siddaramaiah said.

‘Whom did you allow to grow?’

Launching a scathing attack on JD(S) supremo in his native, Siddaramaiah  accused the former PM of not allowing others to grow politically, including those from his own Vokkaliga community.

Listing out names of various Vokkaliga leaders who were once close to Gowda, he said, "Mr Deve Gowda please tell me whom did you allow to grow... Gowda always says that I made Siddaramaiah the Finance Minister (during Janata Dal govt), so he grew as a leader. If I and Jalappa (former Minister R L Jalappa) were not there in 1994, it wouldn't have been possible for you to become CM... we made you CM instead of Ramakrishna Hegde."

(With PTI inputs)