From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jan 9: Former Chief Minister and Congress Opposition Leader in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah said the formation of the coalition government with the JD(S) in the State after the 2018 polls was a big loss for the party as it resulted in the loss of its 14 MLAs.

The coalition government with the JD(S) was formed soon after the fractured verdict in 2018 Assembly elections after the intervention of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

With the initiative of some Central leaders of the Congress, the coalition government was hurriedly formed with JD(S) apparently without the consent of Siddaramaiah.

After 2018, the Congress not only lost its 14 MLAs but also faced defeat in subsequent 2019 general elections and by-elections, Siddaramaiah said.

Now more than 18 months after the collapse of the coalition government, Siddaramaiah tweeted that “it was more of loss than gain for @INCKarnataka due to the formation of coalition govt with the JD(S). Had we not formed a coalition govt, we would not have lost our 14 MLAs”.

In a series of tweets, the former Chief Minister said that Congress has a stronghold in Karnataka noting that the results of recent Grama Panchayat polls proved it.

“Congress is a strong in Karnataka. Recent GP results are an example of the same. This indicates the direction of the next assembly election result as well. This fact will never change” the former chief minister said.

Siddaramaiah claimed that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was trying to spread Sanathana Dharma in Karnataka in the name of Anubhava Mantap and trying to fool the dominant Lingayat community.