Siddaramaiah regrets forming coalition government with JD(S)

Bengaluru: Former chief minister and leader of opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has lamented that the coalition with the JD(S) was more of a loss than gain for the Congress and had it not happened the party would not have lost 14 MLAs.

"Congress is a strong party in Karnataka. Recent Gram Panchayat results are an example to second the claim. This indicates the direction of the next Assembly election results as well. This fact will never change," he asserted.

Siddaramaiah reminded that his government has formed a committee under the chairmanship of G.R. Chennabasappa to re-establish the philosophy of Basavanna by constructing Anubhava Mantapa and the Anubhava Mantapa which is being constructed by the State government militates against the principles of the poet-philosopher.

"Basavanna spread the idea of equality and social justice. He fought against the evil practices like caste system, untouchability & gender discrimination which was practiced in Sanathana Dharma. Chief Minister Yediyurappa is attempting to spread Sanathana Dharma in the name of Anubhava Mantapa. This is the idea of RSS and Yediyurappa has fallen for it," he remarked.

Basavanna was the 12th century Lingayat saint who spread the concept of Anubhava Mantapa , a socio-religious centre that existed in the present-day Basava Kalyana of Bidar district.

On January 6, the CM laid the foundation of ''New Anubhava Mantapa'' in Basavakalyan. The leader of the opposition opined that Anubhava Mantapa should resonate with the ideas of Basavanna and not that of Sanathana Dharma.

Further he stated that had the Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi not been there, India would have still been under the British domination. "This is the history of the Indian National Congress. BJP leaders are not freedom fighters but they are only the beneficiaries of Independence," Siddaramaiah observed.