Vishwanath bats for power transfer to DKS; challenges CM to deny pact before deity

Former Minister and BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath on Friday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to hand over power to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar as per the alleged “power-sharing pact” between the two Congress leaders.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Vishwanath, a long-time critic of the Chief Minister, dared Mr. Siddaramaiah to take a vow before the Chamundeshwari deity atop Chamundi Hills declaring that no such pact had existed.

“Let Mr. Siddaramaiah stand before Goddess Chamundi and publicly state that there was no understanding on sharing power for 30 months each, and that he intends to remain Chief Minister for the full five-year term,” he said.

Backing Mr. Shivakumar, the former Congressman asserted that the Deputy Chief Minister was a “committed Congressman”, unlike Mr. Siddaramaiah “who joined the Congress only for power”.

Recalling the events leading to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s entry into the Congress, Mr. Vishwanath said Mr. Shivakumar had written a detailed five-page letter to Sonia Gandhi strongly supporting Mr. Siddaramaiah’s induction, arguing that his entry would strengthen the party. “Mr. Shivakumar played a major role in bringing Siddaramaiah into the Congress, but today he is being betrayed,” he alleged.

Mr. Vishwanath also maintained that the mandate in the 2023 Assembly elections was in favour of the Congress and not personally for Mr. Siddaramaiah.

Intensifying his attack, he described the Chief Minister as “ungrateful” for “betraying” former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who, he said, had groomed Mr. Siddaramaiah in his political career. He recalled that when Mr. Gowda made him the Deputy Chief Minister in the Congress–JD(S) coalition government led by N. Dharam Singh, Mr. Siddaramaiah began eyeing the Chief Minister’s post and went on to organise an AHINDA (Minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits) rally in Hubballi.

According to Mr. Vishwanath, Mr. Gowda had advised him to hold the rally under the Janata Dal(S) banner, but Mr. Siddaramaiah ignored the request, which hurt the former Prime Minister. This eventually led to his dismissal as Deputy Chief Minister and later his expulsion from the JD(S), he said.

Expressing concern, Mr. Vishwanath remarked that the tussle for the Chief Minister’s post had now taken on a caste overtone. He also criticised Yathindra Siddaramaiah for “singling out” Adichunchanagiri Mutt Seer Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji for supporting Mr. Shivakumar’s claim to the top post, even though several other pontiffs had made similar comments.