War of words breaks out between Kumarasamy, Karnataka Cong

Bengaluru: JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday stepped up his attack on the Congress, saying it bowed before his party and made him chief minister of the coalition government in Karnataka and did “back-seat driving” as the two erstwhile allies were locked in a war of words.

After the state Congress unit took to twitter and slammed him over his criticism of the party’s nation-wide “Save Democracy campaign”, Kumaraswamy tweeted back saying the party’s stalwarts, “unable to question him directly”, have attacked him through the social media and ran away.

A day after the former chief minister criticisd the nation-wide “Save Democracy” campaign against the BJP in the backdrop of the Rajasthan political crisis, the state Congress asked whether its ‘morality’ suited him when he shared power in the state.

In a series of tweets, it also wondered whether he had become “so innocent” that he did not know the difference between MLAs voluntarily joining a ruling party and “Operation Lotus” to pull down elected governments.

“Congress’ morality was good for you (Kumaraswamy) when you allied with the party, sat on the Chief Minister’s seat and ran the administration. Is the question of morality arising when there is no power? What is the morality of your party that has become invisible and irrelevant when the state is in difficulty,” Congress tweeted.

On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy had alleged “Congress is another name for horse trading” and it was an expert in dividing political parties, purchasing MLAs and in fact, the term horse trading in politics came to be in use because of it.

For the sake of one Rajya Sabha seat, the party’s government in Karnataka had purchased eight JD(S) MLAs in 2016, he charged.

On Wednesday, he tweeted: “Despite us declining, the Congress high command and state leaders bowing before JD(S) made me sit on the Chief Minister’s chair. Then you (Congress) did back seat driving by putting pressure. Where was your morality then?” he asked.

Stating that he had to follow “Raja Dharma” by waiving farmers’ loan, the JD(S) leader claimed, that’s the reason he followed “Chanakya neeti” in the interest of the people despite knowing Congress’ game plan then.

“There was no personal gains from it.”

He also alleged that leaders in the Congress had halted the chances of veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge from becoming the Chief Minister after 2018 assembly polls, pointing out that JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda had suggested Kharge’s name to that party’s leaders.

Hitting back at Congress’ jibe of JD(S) being invisible and irrelevant, Kumaraswamy asked, “in how many states Congress is relevant?…. is there any leader who can respond to this?”

Rejecting Congress’ defence that JD(S) MLAs had voluntarily joined it after cross voting in 2016 Rajya Sabha polls, he said, “there was no major difference in admitting other party MLAs in the disguise of ‘voluntarily joining’ and BJP’s operations to bring down any government.”

This is the fresh exchange of barbs between Congress and JD(S) after they parted ways following the collapse of coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy in July last year.

Leaders of both parties have earlier too indulged in verbal spat holding each other responsible for the fall of coalition government and helping BJP to come to power in the state.