Bengaluru: If former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah had his way, he would have had a new government in place 24 hours before the election results were even out.
His backroom deal with the JD(S) would have seen him get another shot at being chief minister of the state, with his friend and ally in the enemy camp, the senior Janata Dal(S) leader H.M. Revanna installed as deputy chief minister as part of Mr Siddaramaiah's swift moves to put together a
Congress-JD(S) coalition government even as the results of the May 12 Assembly poll that were coming in, indicated a hung House.
However, despite pitching this to the Congress high command, and asking for 48 hours to wrap up the deal, the former CM found himself outmanouevred.
While Mr. Siddaramaiah was meeting with Mr Revanna who had assured him of the support of 34 MLAs and agreed to the power sharing agreement on his terms, Mr Siddaramaiah, who had told the Congress that the JD(S) was unlikely to go with the BJP this time as his father, H.D. Deve Gowda was set against it, had little idea that national Congress leaders were simultaneously reaching out to the JD(S). Mr Siddaramaiah, whose 12 day stay at the SDM Yoga and Nature Cure Hospital in Shantivana, Ujjire near Dharamastala saw unprecedented airing of his and his camp's disgruntlement, repeatedly signalled his frustration at being brushed aside, according to his supporters, by vocally opposing the fresh budget that the Kumaraswamy government intends to present on July 5, and later questioning the longevity of the HDK government.
The Congress leader is reported to have vented his anger to them, at the party high command offering the Chief Ministership to the JD(S) without taking him into confidence, and shared his feeling that it would boomerang on the party in the long run.
He is also reported to have yelled at his trusted friend, Dr H.C. Mahadevappa during the heart to heart with his loyalists at Shantivana fornot providing enough funds for the elections."It is due to your non-cooperation that we lost 20 seats," he is said to have thundered at him.
Despite Mr Siddaramaiah's differences with Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, he remains even now on good terms with his older brother and PWD minister, H.D. Revanna. In fact, the latter is said to have rushed to Shanthivana as recently as June 19 to request the former Chief Minister to convince his brother to give him the energy portfolio, but was advised to speak of it to his father Mr Deve Gowda first.
