K'taka: Siddaramaiah denies Deve Gowda's charges of him being responsible for poll debacle

Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday refuted the charges of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in which he had allegedly blamed him for his and his grandson's defeat in the 17th Lok Sabha Elections.

Siddaramaiah also accused former Prime Minister Deve Gowda of not allowing anyone else to grow.

"Me and Deve Gowda campaigned in many constituencies. If he blames me for his and his grandson's debacle in the elections, then he should tell me why our candidates lost," Siddaramaiah said in a press conference here.

Cornering JDS patriarch Gowda, Siddaramaiah asked him to explain the reasons behind the defeat of his candidates in the elections and said, "Gowda never allowed someone else to grow. They (JDS) do not even let people from their own caste grow. I have friends in all castes and in all parties".

Gowda had held Siddaramaiah responsible for the collapse of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in the state.

In the recent Lok Sabha polls, Gowda was defeated from Tumkur while his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost from Mandya.

Reportedly, Gowda had alleged that Siddaramaiah wanted to make BJP leader BS Yediyurappa the chief minister instead of his son HD Kumaraswamy, adding that the two had worked together in the past.

Giving a jolt to Congress in Karnataka, former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy had recently announced that JD (S) will fight the upcoming elections in the state on its own.