On Wednesday, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy yet again shed tears as he lamented against the people of Mandya for deserting him by defeating his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Lok Sabha election this year.
Ahead of the by-polls in Krishnarashpete (KR Pete) constituency of Mandya district, JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy was speaking at an election rally seeking support for his party candidate BL Devaraju.
#WATCH JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy breaks down, in Mandya. Says “…I don’t need politics, don’t want CM post.I just want your love.I don’t know why my son lost.I didn’t want him to contest from Mandya but my own people from Mandya wanted him but didn’t support him which hurt me” pic.twitter.com/reyhIsttPN
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2019
Former CM HD Kumaraswamy said he never wanted his son to contest the election but because of the people of Mandya’s insistence, he had fielded him. The people of Mandya have deserted me, said Kumaraswamy as he broke down during a public meeting at Kikkeri village in Mandya district.
In a choked voice and wiping his tears, Kumaraswamy said he was not crying because of losing power but it was only the expression of the pain that he has gone through. What wrong I have done to the people of the state? asked Kumaraswamy.
Kumaraswamy said he was not worried about his son losing the election but was anguished that the people of Mandya, whom he trusted the most, deserted him.
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“The post of the chief minister is nothing for me. I need your love and affection and nothing else,” said Kumaraswamy before bursting into tears. The JDS leader said he was in politics only to serve the poor and downtrodden.
Interestingly, launching an attack on the Congress party, Kumaraswamy said that it was the compulsion from Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, which made him take up the post of Chief Minister in the state after the 2018 assembly elections threw up a hung assembly.
“Those 14 months tenure was not an easy one. To tell you the truth, I neither worked peacefully from day one nor had proper sleep,” Kumaraswamy told the crowd.
The KR Pete seat became vacant following the disqualification of KC Narayana Gowda of JDS by the then speaker KR Ramesh Kumar. In July this year, 17 MLAs were disqualified by Speaker Ramesh Kumar after Congress and JD(S) had a complaint regarding their absence and resignation from the assembly during the trust vote leading to the collapse of then Kumaraswamy-led government.
On November 13, the Supreme Court had quashed the order of the speaker and had allowed the rebel MLAs to contest in the upcoming Karnataka by-polls. However, the apex court had also upheld former Karnataka Speaker’s order to disqualify 17 ‘rebel’ Congress and JD(S) MLAs.
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The Supreme Court has quashed the order of former Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, who had disqualified the MLAs from contesting elections until the term of the current assembly, till 2023. Fourteen rebel MLAs of the Congress and three of the JDS were disqualified under the anti-defection law by the Speaker in July.
The by-polls to 15 out of 17 Karnataka assembly seats, which became vacant following the disqualification of MLAs, are scheduled to be held on December 5. The by-polls will not be taking place at two out of the 17 vacant seats — Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Maski as separate election petitions challenging the results of the 2018 elections are pending in Karnataka High Court.
