Bengaluru: Those who assumed that he was 'a rebel without a cause' after being deprived of his seat of power, could be sorely mistaken, for former chief minister Siddaramaiah is fast emerging as a hero in the Congress party after his persistent outbursts against Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and the JD(S) leader's unilateral move to present a fresh budget.
Senior Congress leaders who have spoken out against Mr. Siddaramaiah in public, privately confide that they support the acerbic views he has shared with his confidantes as the state Congress leaders feel these are comments which will go a long way in putting the coalition partner, JD(S) on notice. These leaders aver that the Congress has already sacrificed too much including the post of chief minister as well as giving up prized portfolios to keep the JD(S) happy. "The feeling is that enough is enough," said a high level source in the party.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the senior leader said only a leader like Siddaramaiah had the gumption to stand up against the JD(S) carefully crafted moves to establish its hegemony over the one-month-old government. "Initially, two or three leaders did show signs of rebelling against the coalition arrangement, but none of them dared to cross the line. Now that Siddaramaiah, one of the tallest leaders in the state has taken up these issues on our behalf, many in the party are relieved as his words carry more weight than anyone of us," the source explained.
Siddaramaiah was not the only one to object to Kumaraswamy's style of functioning including his quiet and unilateral transfers of officers which was brought up first by water resources minister, D.K. Shivakumar barely a week after the coalition took power.
