Bengaluru: The acrimony between the Congress and the JDS in Karnataka reached a new high with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday threatening to step down, saying he never “craved” for power. His comments a day after a ruling Congress MLA demanded that Siddaramaiah be made the chief minister again.
At an event in the city on Sunday, ST Somashekhar had claimed that development works had come to a grinding halt here and other parts of the state.
Strongly reacting to the comments, Kumaraswamy said, “If my way of functioning is not acceptable, I am ready to resign. I don’t crave for position. “Our government has taken up projects worth Rs one lakh crore including suburban train, elevated corridor and peripheral ring road,” the chief minister told reporters after dedicating six-coach metro rail on ‘Green Line’ at the Mantri Square Metro Station.
A red-faced Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao, who too was present there, said such statements by the Congress MLAs were not acceptable and a showcause notice would be issued to them.
“Today Rs 8,000 crore worth work is happening. I condemn such public statements and will issue a showcause notice to them,” Rao told reporters.
“Morning I saw S T Somashekhar’s statement. It breaches the disciplinary line. The coalition government has done lots of development work in Bengaluru.”
The works sanctioned by the previous Siddaramaiah government were also being taken up, he said.
Noting that Somashekhar was chairperson of the Bengaluru Development Authority, he said, “His public statement is inappropriate. I condemn it and I will issue a show-cause notice to him.” “If there are any shortcomings in our government, they should discuss straightaway with chief minister or Deputy CM G Parameshwara, who is in charge minister of Bengaluru… We cannot tolerate indiscipline,” he said. AICC general secretary K V Venugopal said in a tweet, “If the explanation is not satisfactory, party will take strong disciplinary action.” (PTI)
