Just two months after taking charge as CM of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy broke down at a meeting with his party, the Janata Dal-Secular, yesterday said that the coalition with Congress was painful and compared himself with Lord Shiva, who had drunk poison to save the world.
To gain an edge over BJP Mr Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal-Secular and the Congress, the larger party chose to take a backseat to keep the BJP out of power in the state, was seen as a model for the anti-BJP front ahead of the 2019 general elections.
It faced many challenges including a tussle over portfolios and the presentation of the state budget, which Mr Kumaraswamy’s predecessor Siddaramaiah was not in favour of as he had presented a full budget in February.
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Despite many BJP taunts about an “unholy alliance”, both Congress and Mr Kumaraswamy had kept up a united front. But on Saturday, at a party meeting which was also meant to felicitate him, Mr Kumaraswamy became emotional.
“You are standing with flowers on roads, near my house, to wish me… you all are happy as I became the Chief Minister, but I’m not… I’m not happy. I know the pain of the coalition government. I became vishakant (Lord Shiva who drank poison) and swallowing the pain of this coalition government,” he told party workers.
After his oath ceremony in May, Mr Kumaraswamy said that he was not taking the post “happily”, as he did not receive the complete trust of the people. “I have not become Chief Minister today happily. I have pain. I had placed several issues in front of people during election feeling that they will trust me, but people of the state have not shown trust in me,” he said.
Yesterday, he referred to it again, saying he did not wish to be Chief Minister “to enjoy power but to solve the problems of my people and fulfil the unfinished agenda of my father“. But the people, he said, did not give him a majority.