Shivakumar alleges Kumaraswamy did not speak when MLAs asked make him as CM

BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said that he had a chance to become chief minister when the H D Kumaraswamy government was about to collapse, but the latter did not speak out single word.

Speaking at the KPCC office where some leaders joined the Congress party, he revealed a secret of the coalition government period. “When the MLAs were in Mumbai, Gopalaiah and S T Somasekhar contacted Kumaraswamy to announce me as the CM, they would have come that time. He was silent. Now he says, he will bring all 19 JDS MLAs to Congress if I become the CM. Are people stupid”, Shivakumar hit out at Kumaraswamy.

“We (Congress) made Kumaraswamy the CM for the sake of secularism. But Kumaraswamy has now gone with those who dislodged the government. He will say that they have made some adjustments with them. He indulges in family politics. He is not able to tolerate that our party is ruling. Chennigappa had told everything about why he had to file a case against the Adichunchanagiri math when he was the Forest Minister”, the Deputy CM indirectly accused Kumaraswamy.

Talking about the issue of illegal electricity connection, he said , “I am not ready to say that Kumaraswamy himself did it. I don’t want to comment on that. I don’t know if there are any activists or who did it. Whoever did it, is not right. Some of his staff might have done it. He has accepted that. That is his greatness. Someone made a mistake. Sometimes he talks about something due to desperation. I don’t care about that. I don’t know about the FIR. I just saw it on TV that he said that he will pay the fine”, DK Shivakumar added.