Siddaramaiah campaigns for Koliwad, says not responsible for his defeat in 2018

Hubballi: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah proved there are no permanent enemies in politics as he toured Ranebennur and participated in a road show to drum up support for former Speaker K B Koliwad who had accused the Kuruba strongman of ensuring his defeat in Assembly polls held last year.

Addressing a rally in Ranebennur on Tuesday, Mr Siddaramaiah clarified that he was not responsible for Mr Koliwad's defeat and that he could not campaign for the former Speaker in 2018 but did attend an event organized to highlight the performance of his government (Sadhane Samavesha) during its five-year tenure. “Someone had misled Mr Koliwad that I was responsible for his defeat,” he said while appealing to voters to defeat R Shankar who had deserted the previous coalition government though he was made minister twice within a span of 14 months.

With Mr Siddaramaiah turning up to campaign for Mr Koliwad, former minister and disqualified legislator Mr Shankar released an audio and video clip of Mr Koliwad's allegations against the former chief minister.