HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, asked the senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah to form his own party before the upcoming assembly elections. He also dared him to start his own party and win at least five seats in Karnataka.
Speaking in Karnataka’s Raichur, Kumaraswamy said, “If Siddaramaiah is such a tall leader, I challenge him to form his own party by stepping out of Congress. Can he at least win five seats, if he does that? There is no way.”
Kumaraswamy’s comments came after Siddaramaiah said JDS cannot win more than 20 seats in the assembly elections. The JDS leader further said, “I would like to inform DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah that after this election, the JDS will shine brightly across the country. The target of 123 seats will be achieved. I shall warn them that if they continue to talk ill about JDS, they will lose their existing seats.”
Following the defection of MLAs to the BJP, Kumaraswamy’s administration quickly fell, and the saffron party reclaimed power.
The announcement comes months before the state Assembly elections, in which the JDS and Congress are expected to stand alone against the BJP.
Siddaramaiah was in Yadgiri as part of the Congress’s statewide bus tour, dubbed ‘Praja Dhwani Yatre,’ which was co-led by Congress state unit President D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.
