Karnataka dominated conversations both on social and mainstream media on Monday for several reasons. First, it was when Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy threatened to step down after some Congress MLAs unfavourably compared him with Siddaramaiah. Sensing an opportunity to corner the Congress, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Monday took a potshot, mocking the fragility of the JDS-Congress coalition government in Karnataka.
Patra tweeted, “The cracks are out in the open yet again in Karnataka’s #MajboorSarkar HDK warning Rahul Gandhi to control His legislators or else He would step down ..meanwhile Congress maintains that No development work has taken place in 7 months!” He concluded his social media post by urging voters to choose from ‘Strong government Vs Helpless government.’
Patra was referring to a statement by Congress MLA and BDA chairman ST Somashekhar, who alleged that no development works had taken place in Bengaluru since the JDS-Congress joined hands to form government in Karnataka in May last year. “There has been no action plan yet. The government has not taken up asphalting of roads yet this year,” he was quoted as saying. Somashekhar also said that things were not so bad when Siddaramaiah was the state’s chief minister.
The cracks are out in the open yet again in Karnataka’s #MajboorSarkar
HDK warning Rahul Gandhi to control His legislators or else He would step down ..meanwhile Congress maintains that No development work has taken place in 7months!
मज़बूत सरकार VS मजबूर सरकार— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) January 28, 2019
Kumaraswamy was visibly upset after a group of Congress MLAs reportedly said that they did not consider him as their chief minister and they still believed Siddaramaiah was their CM. An Kumaraswamy, according to The Hindu, said, “I don’t want to stick onto the chair. Am ready to resign today itself. We never went to anybody seeking power. The Congress came to us to form the government. Deputy Chief Minister and myself are working together with co-ordination. But we need the support of MLAs as well.”
In other developments, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday had demanded the resignation of Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde for commenting on Karnataka Congress leader Dinsesh Gundu Rao’s Muslim wife. Gandhi’s tweet had read, “This man is an embarrassment to every Indian. He’s unfit to be a Union Minister and deserves to be sacked.”
Later in the day, Siddaramaiah had caused considerable embarrassment for himself and his party, the Congress, after his act of snatching a woman’s dupatta and microphone was caught on camera. In the video, now gone viral, Siddaramaiah was seen snatching the woman’s microphone and dupatta in a fit of rage.