Worked like 'slave' for Congress, don't blame me: Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru: Days after he was ousted from the chief ministerial post, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said that he worked like a "slave" for its coalition partner Congress during the tenure of his government in the state.

"I had given full freedom to all the MLAs, and even corporation chairmen, why they are blaming me I don't know. For the last 14 months, I worked like a slave for these MLAs and our coalition partner (Congress). Why they are blaming me? I don't know," Kumaraswamy told ANI.

The 14-month-old Congress-JD(S) government fell after it lost the trust vote. Later, Yediyurappa was sworn-in as the 25th chief minister of Karnataka on July 26, following the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government.

The JD(S) leader said that several Congress leaders didn't want to form the coalition government. "After the fractured verdict in our state, Congress leadership wholeheartedly wanted to join hands with JD(S) and they wanted to form the government. But, some local leaders were not interested according to my sources," Kumaraswamy said.

"From day one, the way a section of the Congress leaders behaved and reacted in the public, everybody knows it," he added.

The former chief minister also said that his government had allocated more money for constituencies of Congress MLAs than that of JD(S).

"Even when MLAs used to come without taking an appointment, I met them. Whatever requests they had for the development of their constituencies, I took decisions on them immediately. What previous Congress government couldn't achieve, I did in 14 months. I have allocated more than Rs 19,000 crore in 14 months to constituencies of Congress MLAs," he said.

Speaking on the JD(S)-Congress coalition, Kumaraswamy said that his party leaders were unhappy after he joined hands with the Congress to form the government. "Even some of my party leaders were not happy, but I formed the government with the help of Congress. They were not happy with the system. They knew how will they going to backstab us," he said.

The former chief minister said that he has pain in his heart since nobody acknowledged his work. "I'm the happiest person now after vacating the office as a Chief Minister. For 14 months, I worked for the development of the state, there is a little pain in my heart because nobody appreciated my work," he said.

The JD(S) leader said that his party leaders are not interested in a coalition with Congress in the future. "Majority of the workers are not interested in the coalition. But Congress high command even now is very much cooperative with us. Let us see what is going to happen in the future," he said.