Congress leader DK Shivakumar has admitted that he is not sure whether the newly elected Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka will complete its full term.
#WATCH Congress leader DK Shivakumar says, ‘Time will answer. I don’t want to answer it now. We have various issues, options before us, I can’t tell right now’, when asked if Congress-JD(S) government will complete full term #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/wnDiKqg2Yj
— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2018
He asserted that the alliance between the two parties was the decision of Rahul Gandhi and said he ‘swallowed all the bitterness’ as it was his duty.
#WATCH Congress leader DK Shivakumar says, ‘Rahul Gandhi has taken decision that there should be secular govt here. That’s what the entire country needs & that’s why we have taken this stand (alliance with JDS). I had to swallow all this bitterness, this is my duty’ #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/Q1fuL5nbCI
— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2018
That ‘Kannada Swabhimani’ Shivakumar gave in to the demands of Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier campaigned as ‘UP ke ladke’, an outsider according to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s logic, did not escape anyone’s notice. Siddaramaiah had regularly attacked Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath during the campaign by dubbing them ‘outsiders’ in Karnataka.
The Congress and the JD(S) have a complicated history and during the election campaign, both sides had made rather unsavoury remarks against each other. Clashes had also erupted between the workers of the two parties in February over an invitation dispute and the police had to intervene to bring the situation under control. However, power has its own allure and despite calling the JD(S) BJP’s B-team, the Congress has offered the Chief Ministerial position to the party to keep BJP out of power.
There have also been reports of a Lingayat revolt within the Congress party. And there have been many reports that the BJP was in talks with as many as 15 MLAs from the alliance. But after much drama, B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after admitting he didn’t have the numbers. However, with the Trust Vote still a few days away, it appears certain that the alliance will be uncomfortable for both parties involved and there’s every possibility that things could go the Bihar way for the Congress party.
