Cong not allowing Kumaraswamy to function, alleges Horatti

Senior JDS leader Basavaraj Horatti Thursday alleged that the party's coalition partner the Congress party, is violating coalition dharma and not allowing Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to function in peace.

Horatti has been upset with the Congress after he lost out to coalition government leader Prathap Chandra Shetty in the race to occupy the legislative council chairman's seat.

Horatti, who was acting chairman of the legislative council, was one of the front-runners for the post.

"They (Congress) have not been following the coalition dharma... moreover, they are not allowing the chief minister to function in peace," he told reporters here.

Replying to a question, Horatti said Kumaraswamy has been trying to take everyone along with him, but the Congress has been taking unanimous decisions, upsetting many JDS leaders.

"The Chief Minister has been hoping that the Congress will change and take everybody along with it, but they have been taking unanimous decisions. Our leaders are upset over such acts," he said.

Elaborating, Horatti claimed the Congress announced appointment of heads to 20 boards and corporations without consulting even Kumaraswamy.

Horatti also targeted the Congress-JDS coalition coordination committee head Siddaramaiah by alleging that the former chief minister was disinterested in seeing the government run smoothly.

"I doubt, if Siddaramaiah is keen on seeing the government run smoothly, and hence I think he is doing all these things of neglecting the JDS before taking decisions," he said.

Horatti urged party supremo Gowda to assert his power and make Congress fall in line with the coalition dharma.

Unhappy with the Congress' "big brother attitude" in the ruling coalition in Karnataka, JD(S) workers and local leaders have apparently asked the leadership to contest all 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 general elections alone.

Siddaramaiah has said the Congress-JDS alliance was strong and they would contest the Lok Sabha polls together.

Reminding about his party's unconditional support to the coalition government and H D Kumaraswamy as its Chief Minister, State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao Thursday said seat sharing for Lok Sabha polls was something which has to be discussed and decided based on winnability.