Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has dismissed his differences with state Congress chief D K Shivakumar and expressed confidence that the Congress will form the next government.
Saying that he and Shivakumar were “working as a team” and the Congress will win the May 10 election, Siddaramaiah projected 130-plus seats for the Congress, 60-65 for BJP and 20-25 for the JD(S). “There’s an internal understanding between Deve Gowda and Narendra Modi and (BJP leader BS) Yediyurappa,” he said, when reminded of words of appreciation exchanged between them.
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In an interview with Hindustan Times, the Kuruba leader refuted the claim of former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Dewe Gowda that he was responsible for the fall of the 2018 JD(S)-Congress government led by Gowda’s son HD Kumaraswamy.
“Three MLAs from the JD(S) joined the BJP besides 14 from our party…As CM, Kumaraswamy lived in Taj Westend for 14 months. How can anyone run a government from a hotel? The MLAs got fed up with him,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Three MLAs from the JD(S) joined the BJP besides 14 from our party…As CM, Kumaraswamy lived in Taj Westend for 14 months. How can anyone run a government from a hotel? The MLAs got fed up with him,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The 76-year-old leader said that he does not want to be in electoral politics after attaining the age of 80, “I’m 76 now and will be 81 after five years. I’d be active in politics thereafter but will not contest elections,” he said.