The Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government, which is on the edge after the resignation of two legislators, continues to be haunted by exchange of barbs between friends-turned-foes Siddaramaiah, former Chief Minister and coalition coordination committee head, and A.H. Vishwanath, former Janata Dal (Secular) State president.
While the two have been at loggerheads in the recent months over the alleged role of Mr. Siddaramaiah in blocking the entry of Mr. Vishwanath into the coalition government’s coordination committee, it was the latter’s outbursts in New Delhi on Wednesday that led to a new flare-up on Thursday. He had said in Delhi that Mr. Siddaramaiah and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had failed to make the coalition experiment a success in Karnataka. Mr. Vishwanath had met a set of BJP leaders too in Delhi.
A combative former Chief Minister, speaking in Mysuru, questioned Mr. Vishwanath’s right to make comments against others when he himself was unable to discharge the duties of a party’s State president and had resigned within a short time.
“He was unable to shoulder responsibilities as the party State president. How can he talk about others?” Mr. Siddaramaiah asked. Later, he also tweeted that Mr. Vishwanath was trying to conceal his own inefficiency with such remarks.