Senior Congress leader and the man credited with keeping the law makers together before the crucial floor test in Karnataka on last week, D.K. Shivakumar on Monday said that the Congress party and the Janata Dal (Secular) have to sort out their differences for the sake of forming a secular government in Karnataka.
“In politics, I have been fighting against the Gowdas since 1985. In the last parliamentary election and assembly election, I won against his son and his daughter-in-law. A lot of politics has been played. Lots of cases were also registered. But in the interests of the nation and party, we need a secular government in Karnataka,” Shivakumar told ANI, in effect admitting that the Congress and the JD-S were at loggerheads before the Karnataka state assembly polls.
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“Rahul Gandhi has taken a decision that there should be a secular government in Karnataka. That is what the entire country needs and that is why we have taken this stand (alliance with JD-S). I had to swallow the bitterness, since this is my duty,” he added.
The Congress, which emerged as the second largest party after the Karnataka state assembly elections, has formed an alliance with the JD-S to form a government in the state.
HD Kumaraswamy, representing the Congress-JD(S) alliance, was invited by the R. Vala Vajubhai the Governor of Karnataka, on Saturday, to form the government in the state, after B.S. Yeddyurappa stepped down ahead of the floor test in the state assembly.
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Asked whether he was happy with the JD(S) alliance, Shivakumar said, “Sometimes, an individual doesn’t count. Whatever collective or major decisions are taken, one man may like or the other man may not like. I also gave consent for the formation of this government.”
Asked about the structuring of the cabinet, the Congress party leader said, “We will not discuss the cabinet formation with Sonia ji (Gandhi) and Rahul ji. We are going to Delhi to pay respects to his father’s (Rajiv Gandhi). All decisions regarding the internal sharing of power will be taken up by the AICC (All India Congress Committee).”
Commenting on the need of a grand alliance for defeating the BJP in the next year’s general election, Shivakumar added that this was the beginning and it will be achieved when all secular parties come together.
Asked whether the Congress-JD(S) government would complete five years, he further said, “Time will answer. I don’t want to answer it right now. We have various issues, options before us, I can’t tell right now.”
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