Kumaraswamy hits back at Rahul for remark on regional parties, says Congress has phobia

PTI, May 17, 2022, 9:20 AM IST

Bengaluru: Congress is facing a phobia of regional parties, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said on Monday while taking a swipe at the grand old party leader Rahul Gandhi for his critical comments on those parties.

In an apparent sarcastic note, he asked the former Congress president to elaborate to regional parties about ideological commitment, while saying that the national party has no presence in most parts of the country.

He said the Congress toppled the I K Gujral-led United Front government, demanding that DMK be kept out of the Cabinet by citing the links of the Dravidian party with the LTTE in the backdrop of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. But, the same Congress in the later years shared a cordial, political relationship with that party.

“Is sharing power with the same DMK for 10 years in UPA-1 and -2 governments, led by Manmohan Singh, an ideological commitment?” he questioned in a tweet.

In his address at his party’s “Chintan Shivir” (brainstorming camp) in Udaipur, Gandhi had claimed that regional parties cannot fight the BJP and the RSS as they lack ideology. The Congress can fight them, he had said.

Noting that Rahul Gandhi claims that Congress alone has the strength to defeat the BJP, the former Chief Minister said he (Rahul) should not forget that his party enjoyed power for 10 years on the strength of regional parties.

“Is joining hands (with BJP) for the immoral operation ‘Lotus’ through the back door, after coming to our (JD-S) door with an alliance proposal and forming a coalition government with us, an ideological commitment? Is destroying alliance partners ideology-based politics?” he further questioned the Congress.

As 2018 polls threw up a hung verdict, Congress and JD(S), which fought elections separately, joined hands to form a coalition government in Karnataka under the leadership of Kumaraswamy.

However, the government fell after 14 months due to dissidence within, and with MLAs from both parties resigning and joining the BJP.

Stating that Congress is facing a phobia of regional parties, Kumaraswamy said, “It has no presence in most of the States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. Congress is in its last days in Karnataka. It will be better if Rahul Gandhi understands that.”