CM on seats: JD(S) not a beggar to accept Congress crumbs

Bengaluru, Feb 20: Sharing of Lok Sabha seats is unlikely to be a smooth exercise for coalition partners Congress and JD(S) with chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah taking on one another over the issue on Tuesday.

Refusing to take lightly the indications being given by state Congress leaders that they won’t give any LS seat currently held by the party to the JD(S) as part of seat-sharing pact, the CM said his party was not a beggar to accept whatever the Congress gives.

“I don’t know whether it is seven, five or three seats. But we (JDS) are not beggars (to accept whatever they give us). I will not mince words,” a visibly angry Kumaraswamy told reporters in Mysuru.

Siddaramaiah hit back by saying that neither the Congress nor JD(S) is a beggar. “It is a coalition government. Nobody is a beggar. A final decision on seat sharing is yet to be taken,” the former CM said on the sidelines of the youth Congress programme in Bengaluru.

The Congress election committee which met here on Monday has decided not to give any of the 10 LS seats held by the party to JD(S). Siddaramaiah confirmed this by saying the party feels it should not compromise on the 10 seats.

This has not gone down well with JD(S) as it has prepared to make a strong bid for Tumakuru and Chikkaballapura seats, which are held by the Congress, when both the parties sit across the table to finalise the pact.

Kumaraswamy also sought to remind the Congress how important it is for both the parties to settle the issue amicably. “It (LS election) is crucial and we need to send a message to the public as well as political opponents. So leaders of both the parties should sit together and sort out the matter,” he added.

He said it’ll be his father and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda who will hold discussions with the Congress on seat sharing, not him. “My responsibility is limited to running the coalition government successfully by ensuring good administration,” he added. He dismissed reports that Congress leaders had discussed seat sharing with him.