Siddaramaiah says he is not after power

Hubli, Mar 11 (UNI) Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said he would strive to strengthen the party, which he had joined unconditionally, and was not after power.

Replying to queries from newspersons here on his recent meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said ''I have never asked for power from anybody till now...I just met Ms Gandhi when I had gone to Delhi. There is no need to give any colour to it.'' Commenting on the performance of the JD(S)-BJP coalition Government in the State, Mr Siddaramaiah said there was no coordination between the coalition partners, leading to development activities coming to a standstill. It was possible to waive off farm loans, as announced by the Government, by mobilising resources. But, the coalition partners were ignoring it and making announcements just for publicity, he felt.

To another question, he said no body in the JD(S) could become Chief Minister until the dream of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda that his other son (Mr H D Revanna) should adorn that post was fulfilled.

UNI