Speaker blames Siddaramaiah for Congress defeat

Bengaluru: Outgoing Speaker K.B. Koliwad has accused outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the poor performance of the Congress in the Legislative Assembly elections. He said that Siddaramaiah’s attitude and language went against the Congress and his “dictatotrial” attitude ultimately led to the party’s downfall. He felt that the ex-CM should be kept away from the Congress. Koliwad contested from Ranebennur constituency and lost to R. Shankar from the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP).

Koliwad alleged that Siddaramaiah had denied him ticket to contest the elections and agreed only after he directly spoke to Congress President Rahul Gandhi. He also blamed Siddaramaiah for his defeat, claiming that he had supported Shankar. He also criticised decision of the Congress that granted religious minority tag to the Lingayat/Veerashaiva community and called it an “unnecessary decision”. Not only the Speaker, several others in the Congress are blaming Siddaramaiah for the dismal performance of the party in the polls.