Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy threatens to quit

by Abbas Adil

Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, angry over a slew of statements critical of the coalition government by Congress legislators perceived to be close to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, threatened to resign on Monday afternoon.

“I don’t want to stick onto the chair. Am ready to resign today itself. We never went to anybody seeking power. The Congress came to us to form the government. Deputy Chief Minister and myself are working together with co-ordination. But we need the support of MLAs as well,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

The Chief Minister’s statement is seen as a stern warning to the Congress to rein in its leaders who have been giving statements against the government.

MLA’s charge
Congress MLA and BDA chairman S.T. Somashekhar had alleged that no development works had been taken up in Bengaluru since the formation of the coalition government. “There has been no action plan yet. The government has not taken up asphalting of roads yet this year,” he said, adding that the situation was not so when Mr. Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister.

“The Congress and the JD(S) have formed the government to give good governance. We are doing good work. The government has taken up peripheral ring road, suburban rail, elevated corridor all adding upto nearly a lakh crore of investment on the city,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

Congress leader Dr. G. Parameshwara, who holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, said Mr. Somashekhar did not have full details of development works that had been taken up.

Other leaders’ statements
However, Mr. Somashekhar’s statement is only the latest in a slew of statements by Congress MLAs declaring Mr. Siddaramaiah as their Chief Minister, undermining the position of Mr. Kumaraswamy. Ministers Puttarangashetty and MTB Nagaraj and legislators Dr. Sudhakar and H M Revanna had recently claimed that as far as they were concerned, Mr. Siddaramaiah remained the Chief Minister.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said he would take up the issue with the Congress’s central leadership.

Minutes after Mr. Kumaraswamy’s threat to quit, the Congress went into the damage control mode and issued a show-cause notice to Mr. Somashekhar. “Instructed Karnataka PCC to send a show cause notice to Somashekhar MLA seeking clarification on his controversial remarks. If the explanation is not satisfactory, party will take strong disciplinary action,” tweeted Congress Karnataka in charge K.C. Venugopal.

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