Cong supports me totally, no pressure from them : HDK

Bengaluru, Jul 17: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday sought to clarify that his emotional outburst was not because of the Congress, but due to unhappiness that he was not getting enough support despite pro-people works.

“Media has twisted my statements,” Kumaraswamy told reporters in Ramanagara. “Despite financial constraints, I have waived Rs 40,000 crore of crop loans and I’m doing other pro-people works. There’s no pressure on me from Congress leaders and they are supporting me totally, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi.”

He said he would head the Congress-JD(S) coalition long so long as he was destined to. “I’ve joined hands with the Congress to serve people. This is a wish God has granted. I will run the government as long his blessings are there.”

Meanwhile, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao played down Kumaraswamy’s recent tearful outburst, calling it “a human expression of anguish.”

“There will be minor hiccups in a coalition government. I spoke to Kumaraswamy. He told me he got emotional. He did not speak anything against the Congress or any of the party’s leaders. He got emotional about the negative media coverage. We will sort things out. Let’s not discuss this too much.” Rao told reporters in Bengaluru. Last Saturday, Kumaraswamy shed tears and said that he was unhappy as the chief minister and was swallowing poison in the Congress-JD(S) coalition set up. This left many Congress leaders red-faced, with senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge saying Kumaraswamy was sending out a wrong message.

Rao also blamed the BJP for creating negativity. “Kumaraswamy’s expression was also on the way the BJP and its communal forces are attacking people and elected representatives in a demeaning manner,” the Congress leader said. “But it was a human expression of anguish at the difficulties he’s facing and he’s come around it.”

Meanwhile, Rao lambasted Union Minister Arun Jaitley: “We saw what the BJP did after forming a government in the J&K with PDP and then collapsing it to ruin that state. We saw what they did in Maharashtra and other states where they usurped power through unholy alliances in an anti-democratic manner. Here, the Congress and JD(S) came together on ideology. Jaitley should look into his own backyard.”