Karnataka: Congress suffered because of Siddaramaiah's arrogant behaviour, says outgoing Speaker KB Koliwad

In politics, much can change in matter of days. Siddaramaiah, who helmed Congress campaign in Karnataka, where even Rahul Gandhi took back seat is now facing fire from his colleagues. Congress suffered heavy losses in Karnataka as17 cabinet ministers suffered defeat. Siddaramaiah too lost from one of the two seats he was contesting. After reports that Siddaramaiah turned emotional during the meeting of newly elected Congress MLAs, party leaders are now publicly speaking out against him. 

After senior Congress leaders blamed Siddaramaiah for party's defeat in Karnataka assembly polls, outgoing Assembly Speaker KB Koliwad has accused him of high-handedness.

 he 69-year-old leader received flak from several senior party MLAs, who held him responsible for the Congress' performance, citing his complete authority in the selection of candidates and the Lingayat issue, they said. "He thinks he is the boss of the party, the party has suffered because of his arrogant behaviour. He is not a true Congressman," said Koliwad. It is to be moted that Siddaramaiah migrated from JD(S) to Congress few years back. 

Koliwad also said that many people have this view of him but they don't express it.

Earler, at a meeting of the party's new legislators, Siddaramaiah turned 'emotional'. He is also said to have cited "polarisation" as one of the factors that affected the party's prospects in the May 12 election. In the May 12 polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 members, while Congress secured 78, the JD(S) 37 and others three.

Alleging that BJP was trying to poach Congress MLAs, Reddy said "they had done it in the past, they are trying to do it again, but they will not succeed... we are all together and will stay together." "BJP has contacted five or six of our MLAs. They raised their hands when asked during the meeting today," he added. Siddaramaiah also mounted a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that he was encouraging "horsetrading" to ensure the BJP returned to power in the state despite falling short of a majority.

Toiling hard to control the levers of power in Karnataka, the BJP and JD(S)-Congress combine staked claim to form the government amid bribery charges by the newly formed alliance's leader H D Kumaraswamy against the BJP that it offered his MLAs Rs 100 crore to break ranks and back the saffron party.

The allegations were promptly dismissed by the BJP, with Union minister Prakash Javadekar dubbing them as "imaginary".