Kumaraswamy breaks down while campaigning
Bengaluru, Nov 27: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy turned emotional on Wednesday ruing that the people of Mandya deserted him by defeating his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Lok Sabha election this year.
He was campaigning for the JD(S) candidate B L Devaraju who is contesting the December 5 assembly bypolls from the KR Pet constituency.
The people of Mandya have deserted me. I never wanted my son to contest the election but because of your insistence I fielded him, said Kumaraswamy as he broke down during a public meeting at Kikkeri village in Mandya district.
The KR Pet segment became vacant following the disqualification of K C Narayana Gowda of JDS by the then speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.
In July this year, 17 MLAs were disqualified by Kumar based on the complaint of Congress and JD(S) after their absence and resignation from the assembly during the trust vote leading to the collapse of then H D Kumaraswamy-led government.
After the court allowed the disqualified MLAs to contest the polls, the BJP fielded Gowda from the same seat.
In a choked voice and wiping his tears repeatedly with his handkerchief, Kumaraswamy said I am not crying because of losing power but it is only the expression of the pain I have gone through.
What wrong I have done to the people of the state?
Kumaraswamys son and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowdas grandson Nikhil was defeated from Mandya by actress and popular Kannada film star Ambareeshs widow Sumalatha Ambareesh, who fought as an independent candidate.
Kumaraswamy said he was not worried about his son losing the election but was anguished that the people of Mandya, whom he trusted the most, deserted him.
The post of chief minister is nothing for me. I need your love and affection and nothing else, said Kumaraswamy before bursting into tears.
The JD(S) leader said he was in the politics only to serve the poor and downtrodden.
Explaining the circumstances in which he was made the chief minister for 14 months, the former chief minister said Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had compelled him to take up the role when the 2018 Assembly elections threw up a hung assembly.
However, the 14 months tenure was not an easy one.
To tell you the truth, I neither worked peacefully from day one, nor had proper sleep, Kumaraswamy told the crowd.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Fully confident of winning bypolls to 2 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah
Davangere (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday asserted that he was one hundred per cent confident that Congress will win by-polls to two Assembly Constituencies in the state, claiming the BJP will face defeat, similar to what they experienced in earlier byelections.
He also played down the disgruntlement among the other ticket aspirants in the Congress, saying that everyone will be convinced and come together to ensure the party's victory.
Bypolls for the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on April 9. The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively.
"I'm one hundred per cent confident that we will win both seats. BJP may claim that they will win, but where have they won? They had made similar claims in the previous bypolls, didn't we defeat sons of former CMs Basavaraj Bommai and H D Kumaraswamy?" Siddaramaiah asked in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the BJP may claim things, but the Congress government has fulfilled its promises and walked the talk by implementing five guarantee schemes.
"People of the state are in our (Congress) favour. We have proved it in the previous byelections. People, including Dalits, backward class people, poor, farmers and minorities -- all of them are with us," he added.
When questioned about claims by some BJP leaders that the bypoll results would indicate the outcome of the 2028 Assembly polls in the state, the CM asked, "When they won't win, what indicator is that?"
"We are in power, we won three by-elections earlier, and I'm confident that we will win these by-elections too," he added.
Congress in November 2024 had swept the by-polls to three Assembly constituencies -- Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna.
Responding to a question, Siddaramaiah claimed that the BJP will face defeat in all four states -- Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the union territory of Puducherry -- which are going for polls.
After several rounds of discussion amid stiff competition for the party tickets, Congress on Sunday announced Umesh Meti and Samarth Mallikarjun as the party candidates for Assembly by-polls to Bagalkot and Davangere South assembly constituencies, respectively.
The Congress gave tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. While Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, Samarth Mallikarjun is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Expressing confidence that the disgruntlement within the party, following candidate selection, especially in the Davangere South constituency, will be resolved, the CM said, adding that the candidate selection was a unanimous decision by the party.
Pointing out that ticket aspirant Sadiq Pailwan has announced he will contest as a rebel in Davangere South, he said, "We will try and convince him."
When asked whether Muslims would be compensated, Siddaramaiah said, "Nothing has been discussed, but we will try to give representation to minorities."
There was a strong demand from Muslims for the Davangere South ticket, as the community has a significant presence in the constituency. Some factions within Congress had opposed giving the ticket to the Shamanur family.
