Siddaramaiah, former Karnataka CM, has mocked H Vishwanath, a JD(S) senior leader for his inability to continue as the state president of the party
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and H Vishwanath, the former president of the Karnataka JD(S) have not been the best of friends, at least politically.
Though it was Vishwanath who brought Siddaramaiah into the Congress fold, he himself was sidelined, with Siddaramaiah going on to become the chief minister of the state.
In fact, there are theories that Vishwanath quit the Congress because of Siddaramaiah and joined the JD(S). Though he was made the president of the party by HD Deve Gowda, the former prime minister, he put in his papers, owing mortifying defeat in the Lok Sabha poll 2019.
Now, as he quit and a new president has taken over the party reins of the JD(S), the feud between the two Kuruba leaders has not ended. In an apparent jibe at Vishwanath, Siddaramaiah mocked him, saying Vishwanath had no mettle in him to be the president.
The spat between the two leaders has long history, indeed.
Around two months ago, the two leaders had again fought it out in the open, with Vishwanath alleging that it was Siddaramaiah himself who was orchestrating a collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the state, to ensure that he becomes the chief minister again.
At that point in time, Siddaramaiah had openly stated that he would not respond, keeping in mind the coalition dharma.
Such was the acrimony between the two leaders that chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was forced to step in, trying his best to assuage the fraying tempers.
But it was far from over. Vishwanath even went on to say that Siddaramaiah was not in the league of Devraj Urs, a former Karnataka chief minister, known for his reformist schemes.
But one thing is certain: the coalition in the state is only slipping further.
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