Congress doing to Kumaraswamy what it did to Deve Gowda, I K Gujral and others: Jaitley

New Delhi: Union Minister Arun Jaitley today accused Congress of driving Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to desperation, saying it did the same to Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral when they were the prime ministers of governments backed by the party.

Taking a pot-shot at opposition’s effort to stitch a “non-ideological opportunistic” alliance just to “Keep Modi Out”, Jaitley said in a hard-hitting Facebook post that India cannot afford to have ‘Bechara’ (helpless) Prime Minister.

He said that in the past few days, we witnessed Kumaraswamy baring his emotions with tears, wetting his eyes and declining to accept bouquets and garlands. Indicating a strain in ties with the Congress, Kumaraswamy recently said he was not happy as Karnataka Chief Minister and was swallowing pain like Lord Shiva who drank poison.

He further said that non-ideological opportunistic coalitions always get trapped within their own contradictions. Their only object is survival and not service of the nation, he added.

“If the Chief Minister of such a coalition has to weep before the cameras with an only wish of how to exit from office, it will be a scenario worse than the policy paralysis of UPA II,” Jaitley said in the blog, ‘Is the Karnataka a Preview of what the Congress and the Federal Front Promise for the Future?’.

It is “a repeat of what the Congress did to Chaudhary Charan Singh, Shri Chandrasekhar, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda and Shri I.K. Gujral? It is the obvious consequence of a non-ideological opportunistic alliance with no positive agenda. The basis of the negative agenda is Keep Modi Out”, he said.

“Indias Prime Minister and his Government has to overcome the challenges that India faces today. He cannot be seen as the Chief Minister of Karnataka as a tragedy king.”

Jaitley further wrote that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly demonstrated the advantages of a decisive leadership.