BENGALURU: A few weeks ago, Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah was batting for the HD Kumaraswamy government in the assembly, but all niceties seem to have ended after the collapse of the coalition government.
On Tuesday, while Kumaraswamy blamed Siddaramaiah for the collapse of the coalition, Siddaramaiah questioned Kumaraswamy’s ability to become Chief Minister without anybody’s help. This is the second time in a month that the two have indulged in an ugly public spat.
“I know he (Siddaramaiah) couldn’t tolerate me becoming the Chief Minister. If he had tolerated it, the coalition government would not have collapsed. Siddaramaiah didn’t make me CM, Congress High Command... Siddaramaiah didn’t nurture me. The people of Ramanagara did,” Kumaraswamy hit out.
Siddaramaiah, on the other hand, asked Kumaraswamy, “So far you have become Chief Minister riding on the backs of other parties. Is it possible for you to become CM on your own strength ever?”
All the bickering began after Kumaraswamy mocked Siddaramaiah indirectly for nurturing MLAs who ultimately abandoned the coalition. Siddaramaiah took to Twitter to respond. “It is true Kumaraswamy that parrots that I trusted and nurtured turned out to be eagles and tormented me. It was my mistake. Despite four decades of political experience, we mistook an eagle for a parrot. How would it spare us? What better teacher than experience?” Siddaramaiah said.
In a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah lambasted Kumaraswamy. “Kumaraswamy, when did I claim to have nurtured you? HD Devegowda nurtured you, but exploited people like me. You learnt the art of use and throw pretty quickly. Ask Yediyurappa about it. He will tell you more. I was also nurtured by people of this state. With their blessings, I was CM for full five years and not because of favours by parrots or eagles,” he wrote.