People want me to head governmentt again: Karnataka CM

Mysuru: The debate on who should become CM if the Congress party returns to power after the 2018 Assembly polls, has resurfaced with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah unequivocally stating in Mysuru that people of the state aspire for a Siddaramaiah-led government again. 

This statement assumes significance as KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar, an aspirant for CM post, had said a couple of days ago that the question of who should become CM will be decided after the Congress wins the polls. Dr Parameshwar was an aspirant for the CM post in 2013 but lost out after he was defeated in the election. 

Speaking to mediapersons near his house at Sharadadevi Nagar here on Monday, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “leaders of BJP and JD(S) have begun to fear me because, they are worried that people have become pro-Siddaramaiah.”  

On PM Modi’s statement that people of the state will not tolerate the Congress for six more months, he quipped,  “it was because people tolerated the Congress that they elected our candidate in the Nanjangud bypoll. Modi is scared of me. So he targets me whenever he comes here. BJP leaders too are scared of me. If I am weak, why would they target me all the time? Why would all leaders from opposition parties unite to defeat me in Chamundeswari?” 

He added, “If BJP’s mission is to get 150 seats, our mission is to come back to power. ...There is no other party in the nation like BJP, which engages in dirty politics. Their leaders have a perverted mindset. Without any reason, they make allegations. They do not know anything other than lying. Their leader Muralidhar Rao has come here from Andhra to make allegations against Siddaramaiah,” he said. 

Regarding rumours of Mr P.G.R. Sindhia contesting from Varuna on a JD(S) ticket, he said, “it is totally false. He has no connection with Varuna. Mr Deve Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy have just invited him and spoken to him. He has not made his stance clear. If he contests, he would do so from Kanakapura or Ramanagar. Even if he contests in Varuna, nothing will happen.” 

Reacting to former minister C.P. Yogeshwar quitting the Congress and his reported moves to join  BJP, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “he is a businessman. He was not in the Congress earlier. He had requested me that he wanted to join the Congress and I agreed. He was in several parties before that. He is a marketing man. I do not want to answer questions on him.”