'Worked under pressure as a clerk under govt with Congress': Kumaraswamy slams former ally

Addressing a day-long party convention, Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday launched a scathing attack on former ally Congress. The former chief minister of Karnataka said he was working as a clerk during the 14-month-long coalition government with Congress.

Kumaraswamy said he was not allowed to take his own decisions and was under pressure from Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

"There was tremendous pressure on me when I was Chief Minister by Siddaramaiah and other Congress Leaders when I was Chief Minister in the coalition government. I was working as a clerk and first division assistant," said Kumaraswamy.

Earlier in the month, Siddaramaiah had also opined that the coalition government with JDS was a loss for Congress as it lost 14 of its MLAs. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader had taken to Twitter on January 9 to speak out against the BJP and also the erstwhile ally JDS.

Retaliating to Siddaramaiah, Kumaraswamy had challenged the Congress leader to build a regional party and win at least 10 seats on his own strength before criticising JD(S) and his leadership abilities.

Kumaraswamy alleged that Siddaramaiah had planned to bring down the coalition government months after it was formed and that most congress legislators who defected to the BJP, eventually leading to the party coming to power, were his loyalists.

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READ | Kumaraswamy Challenges Siddaramaiah To Build Regional Party & Win 10 Seats

Karnataka assembly elections of 2018

With no party getting a clear majority in the 2018 assembly polls, Congress-JD(S) that had fought against each during the election joined hands to form a government with Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister to keep the BJP out of power. In the Karnataka assembly elections of 2018, the BJP won the most seats 104 seats out of the total 224 seats, however, the Congress and the JDS under UPA formed a coalition government with 120 seats combined. The JDS-Congress-led coalition government was in power in the state from May 2018 till July 2019, however, the collapse of the government with the defection of its MLAs to BJP gave way to the saffron party to form its government with BS Yediyurappa as the chief minister.

(with inputs from ANI)

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