I was reduced to a clerk in coalition govt by Congress: HD Kumaraswamy

Bagalkot: Former chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday made a sharp attack on his previous Congress - JD(S) coalition government, saying it was not a party (Congress) worthy of an alliance and he was just a 'titular' chief minister.

Speaking at a one-day convention held at Bagalkot on Sunday, Kumaraswamy said, "I did not put forth any proposal from the JD(S) before the Congress for a coalition. None of us knocked on the doors of the Congress. They made me chief minister without power or freedom. I was restrained from making independent decisions. I worked like a first-division clerk in the 14-month alliance government."

On Sunday, it was the first-ever programme hosted in Bagalkot by the JD (S) after the Assembly elections in 2018, aimed at strengthening the party in the region and to kick-start the preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections.

"I didn't have any kind of freedom being at the helm of the State during the coalition. I had pressure from all corners. Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah and his colleagues used to coerce me into continuing their programmes and irrigation projects that were announced during his regime. BJP, the then opposition party, used to say that I had come to power by giving false promise to farmers to waive their loans.

However, the reality is that I had no liberty to make any decisions. It is now decided that Congress leaders cannot try to take political mileage by using the name of JD(S)," Kumarswamy explained.