“Strong as rock”: CM Kumaraswamy on Congress-JDS coalition govt in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Dec 5: Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday dismissed Union minister Prakash Javadekar's claim that the Congress-JDS coalition government led by him in the state would fall any time, asserting that it was as strong "as a rock."

Kumaraswamy said BJP leaders had been talking about bringing down the government from day one but it would never happen.

"For the past six months, they (BJP) have been making noise (that the government will fall) but it remained a noise.It did not have any effect on the Karnataka government. Our government is as strong as a rock," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Kumaraswamy's remarks came in response to Javadekar expressing his doubts about the longevity of the coalition government in an interview to a private TV news channel.

"A political explosion is in the offing anytime in Karnataka. This is a government full of paradoxes. The Congress and JD(S) cannot stay together, such is their story," Javadekar, who was Karnataka election incharge for the party during the assembly polls in May, said in the interview.

Asked to throw light on the present political development, Javadekar said BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa alone can offer a reply.

His statement came two days after an audio clip containing a purported conversation between an alleged confidant of Monakalmuru BJP MLA B Sriramulu and aDubai based businessman about Congress MLAs deserting the party had emerged.

Congress and JD(S) have accused the BJP of attempting to topple the government, but Sriramulu rejected the charge saying he does not have any personal assistant who spoke in Hindi and questioned the authenticity of the audio itself.

Adding to the claims, senior state BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashok Wednesday said Yeddyurappa would become chief minister soon as the government "lacked stability."

Vouching for the government's stability, water resource minister D K Shivakumar said the Congress will never backtrack from its word that its support to JD(S)-led coalition government was for five years.

Meanwhile, state congress general secretary Haji Shafiulla and MLC Rizwan Arshad lodged a complaint with the commissioner of police demanding a probe into the alleged attempt to induce Congress MLAs as reflected in the audio clip.

"BJP political party leaders B S Yeddyurappa, Sriramulu and others (are) inducing the defection of congress MLAs by offering them money and political power.

We request you to investigate the matter against those who are trying to induce the MLAs belonging to our party and initiate criminal action against the persons involved in the matter," the complaint said.