Be Courageous: Congress Tells HD Kumaraswamy Who Broke Down in Public
A teary-eyed Kumaraswamy claimed that he was swallowing the pain of a coalition government in Karnataka.
Bengaluru, July 16: The Congress on Sunday asked Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to 'be courageous' going forward. This came after Kumaraswamy's emotional breakdown at a public event. The Congress said Kumaraswamy should remember that the coalition government was formed for the sake of secularism.
"You've to face problems. Simply expressing won't give good message to people who supported secular parties. Kumaraswamy should be courageous to face such circumstances," said veteran Congress leader from Karnataka, reported news agency ANI. Congress MLA Dr Sudhakar also said that Congress gave Kumaraswamy amrut (nector) and not poison by making him chief minister.
"Congress has given amrut (nectar) and not poison to Kumaraswamy by making him chief minister, despite his party winning just 37 seats. Being a CM, he shouldn't be crying, instead he should be wiping the tears of the common people. The Congress will give all cooperation to Kumaraswamy to run the government ," the legislator reportedly said.
Addressing an event on Saturday, a teary-eyed Kumaraswamy claimed that he was swallowing the pain of a coalition government in Karnataka. "People are standing with bouquets to wish me, as one of their brothers became Chief Minister and they all are happy, but I'm not. I know the pain of coalition government. I became Vishkanth (Lord Shiva) and swallowed pain of this government," the chief minister said.
Kumaraswamy has been on a rocky road since assuming charge on May 23 as the head of the coalition government, confronting wrangling over portfolio allocation and presentation of budget. Presenting his government's first budget on July 5, Kumaraswamy, who also holds the finance portfolio, unveiled a Rs 34,000 crore farm loan waiver, and subsequently announced an additional crop loan waiver of Rs 10,700 crore from cooperative banks.
However, the Congress reportedly asked him to withdraw the decision on petrol and diesel price hike and reduction in the supply of rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme, announced in the budget.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 12:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).