Not ours, it was Sonia’s idea says Gowda on Karnataka coalition
Bengaluru, June 21: JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda said that the Karnataka coalition was the idea of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, not his party's.
Reacting to views expressed by some Congress leaders that the alliance was hurting both the parties, he said, "I told them we didn't want this (coalition government), but (senior Congress leaders) G Parameshwara and KH Muniyappa approached us.
(Mallikarjun)
Kharge
told
me
that
he
had
been
ordered
to
ensure
that
this
happens."
Deve
Gowda
said
he
had
told
Congress
president
Rahul
Gandhi
that
he
was
hurt
by
the
repeated
public
utterances
of
some
Congress
leaders
about
the
coalition
government
in
Karnataka.
BJP still trying to topple my government, alleges HD Kumaraswamy
"I told him that from day one I have been watching, I'm hurt very badly. This is the first time I am telling you. You take a decision. Please request all your Karnataka leaders (not to speak in public about the government)," he said.
Asked about senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah's reported remarks after meeting Gandhi on Wednesday that the coalition is not working well and that the party would have performed better if it had contested the elections on its own, Gowda said, "I don't want to react now; there is ample time."