Home minister MB Patil and Sudhakar, the Congress MLA from Chikkaballapura have expressed their desire to see Siddaramaiah as the chief minister. On the other hand, Siddaramaiah loyalists in the party have advised him to go for fresh elections in the event of a probable coalition collapse
Bengaluru: Since the coalition government was formed in Karnataka last year, there has been a perennial threat for HD Kumaraswamy as the chief minister. Certainly, the going has not been smooth, with Kumaraswamy struggling to make political ends meet.
Now, it seems like the possibility of the threat really manifesting itself has come to the fore, courtesy: two prominent Congressmen openly declaring their desire to see Sidddarmaiah as the chief minister.
Home minister MB Patil and Sudhakar, the Congress MLA from Chikkaballapura are the two Congressmen we are talking about.
Patil told reporters, “Siddaramaiah has given several good schemes like Indira Canteen, Anna Bhagya and such other Bhagyas. So it will be good if he returns as the chief minister.”
But later, he didn’t mince words when he said that he too was an aspirant for the chief minister’s post.
And in what comes as a fillip to Siddaramaiah’s desire to reclaim the chair is the support he got from Basanagouda Patil Yatnal from the BJP. The BJP leader said “HD Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar have joined hands to finish off Siddaramaiah. It is better if he becomes the chief minister.”
In another development, the Basanagouda also welcomed home minister Patil to the BJP. He said, “If he comes to the BJP, we will offer him the deputy chief minister’s post. If it is better for the development of north Karnataka, then why not? HD Kumaraswamy gives a sum of Rs 8,000 crore for Mandya, while for Bijapur, he gives a sum of Rs 200 crore as grants.”
While Basanagouda expressed his support for Siddaramaiah, it is learnt that some of his loyal supporters have advised Siddaramaiah that they should go for fresh elections in the event of a probable collapse.
Sources say that since the coalition was formed, the Congress has been relegated to the second spot. So, that being the case, they feel there is no use continuing the coalition and fresh elections would be the only answer.
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