Karnataka’s Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday expressed his distress of being the head of a coalition government in the state. He described his plight similar to swallowing poison.
At an event organised by the JD(S) to felicitate him for becoming the CM, Kumaraswamy declined to accept bouquets and garlands, and said: “While you may be happy thinking that your Anna or Thamma has become the chief minister, let me tell you that I’m not. I’m swallowing my pain, which is nothing more than poison (of being the CM of a coalition), without sharing it. I’m not happy with the situation.”
Kumaraswamy further stated his government is not the ultimate and absolute choice of the people of Karnataka.
The immediate trigger for Kumaraswamy’s emotional speech was “Kumaraswamy is not my CM” statements in social media — a Kodagu boy’s video stated that roads in the district have been washed away but the CM is not worried, and fishermen from coastal districts too voiced their anger against the chief minister for failing to waive their loans.
The chief minister stated how difficult it gets for him to convince various officials to get projects through. Tinged with distress, Kumaraswamy got teary-eyed while speaking.
“For the last one month, nobody knows the jugglery I’ve been doing to convince officials to agree to the loan waiver. Now, they want 7kg rice instead of 5kg rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme. From where should I get Rs 2,500 crore for this? I’m being criticised for levying taxes. After all this, media says there’s no clarity in my loan waiver scheme. If I wish, within two hours I can step down from the office,’’ Kumaraswamy said.
He also stated that the urge to become the chief minister was only to work for the people of Karnataka and to ”realise unfinished agenda of my father HD Deve Gowda”.
“My craving to become CM of the state was for no other reason but to do good for the people of this state. It was my dream to fulfil my party’s commitment and complete the unfinished agenda of my father HD Deve Gowda. It was not for grabbing power. However, the assembly election results (winning only 37 seats) suggest that somewhere people do not have confidence in me,” he pointed out.
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