HD Kumaraswamy accuses Siddaramaiah of playing caste politics

Mysuru: Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday hit out at senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, saying he is busy building a wedge between communities. Speaking to mediapersons after visiting Suttur mutt here on Monday he said, "Siddaramaiah keeps complaining that our party belongs to a particular community. On the contrary, he is busy holding conventions of various communities in the state. He has no business to talk of secularism when he is not following it."

Kumaraswamy said, "Sitting in a glass house, we should not throw stones at others. Siddaramaiah should be clear in his stance. Just for the sake of votes, he is playing caste politics. He has no business to talk lightly of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. "The JD(S) leader said, "Siddaramaiah, it seems, wants to know if I know anything about farming. He can come to Bidadi and see what I am doing. Let me know if he is eligible to talk of farming." He said JD(S) is nearing people more and more must have come as a shock to Siddaramaiah. This is one of the reasons why he is talking so much against our party. He is resorting to personal attacks on JD(S) leaders. This will only make us stronger by the day."

To another question, Kumaraswamy said he is not going to oust anyone from the party. "If my detractors are complaining against me, it is their own problem. If someone has a problem with me, I am open to discussion to thrash out the differences. "On preparation for the 2023 state Assembly elections, he said, "We are getting ready for the big test 17 months in advance. From November 1, we are starting 'Janata Sangama' to reach out to the people. We are concentrating on winning 123 Assembly seats and we will do everything to win."