Koliwad guns for Siddu: Expel him
Siddaramaiah was upset that the media had reportedly projected him as a villian who was planning to bring down the government.
Bengaluru: The knives are clearly out for former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has of late proved to be a thorn in the side of the coalition government in the state. In a no holds barred attack on him on Friday, former Speaker K.B. Koliwad called him a “wretched person” and demanded that he not only be stripped of the post of chairman of the coordination committee, but also expelled from the Congress for his anti-party activities.
Calling Mr Siddaramaiah an outsider, who had joined the party only in recent years, he said all “original” Congressmen were planning to take a delegation to Congress president, Rahul Gandhi to explain how he was doing irreparable damage to the party ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls.
Mr Koliwad, who was speaking to Deccan Chronicle, maintained that the former Chief Minister had crossed the 'Lakshman Rekha' by projecting himself as bigger than the Congress party although he had not been with it for very long.
“He is now acting too big for his shoes by trying to create dissidence among legislators. In the interest of the coalition government, the high command must remove Mr Siddaramaiah as chairman of the coordination committee and appoint one of the two senior leaders, Gulam Nabi Azad or Mallikarjun Kharge in his place,” he suggested.
Warning that the high command was watching all developments closely in the state , he said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would clip Mr Siddaramaiah’s wings soon.
“Who is Mr Siddaramaiah to object when Mr Gandhi has given the green signal to Mr Kumaraswamy to present a new budget? Has he grown bigger than Mr Rahul Gandhi?” he asked angrily.
Claiming that Mr Siddaramaiah was a big liability for the Congress and it would lose the 2019 Lok Sabha polls if they were fought under his leadership, he said the Congress would have fared better in the recent Assembly polls had it been led by KPCC chief, and present deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar.
Also, speaking disparagingly about AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs K.C. Venugopal, Mr Koliwad said, “There is no point in complaining about this to him as he does not have the guts to take on Mr Siddaramaiah. It’s high time the high command appointed someone strong in his place.”