Siddaramaiah joins Congress, blasts Gowda for joining hands with BJP

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah began a new political innings on Saturday by formally joining the Congress fold in the presence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.

According to reports reaching here, Siddaramaiah called on Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence in New Delhi and had a 25-minute-long meeting with the Congress President to finalize the formalities of his entry into the Congress fold.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader in charge of Karnataka A K Antony and senior Congress leaders from Karnataka including leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Dharam Singh were present on the occasion.

Siddaramaiah, who had resigned from the Karnataka Assembly as a JD (S) member earlier this week, has assured the Congress leadership that more JD (S) legislators will switch loyalties shortly casting a shadow over the political future of the JD (S) led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

A large number of JD (S) rebels, including eight legislators, are expected to join the Congress party at an impressive rally in Karnataka next month to be attended Sonia Gandhi. “I am joining Congress alone now. There are more JD (S) members, who want to join along with me. They will join the party officially at a public rally to be held in the last week of August”, Siddaramaiah said.

On the occasion of his induction into the Congress party, Siddaramaiah launched a broadside against JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda for “burying” the ideology of JD (S) by joining hands with “communal” BJP. “The JD (S) has been reduced to a party of Deve Gowda and his son”, Siddaramaiah said.

He claimed that he had decided to join the Congress as it was the only national party, which was fighting communal and fundamentalist forces. “Deve Gowda has betrayed the people of Karnataka by joining hands with the BJP to make his son H D Kumaraswamy the Chief Minister of Karnataka”, said Siddaramaiah, who shared a two-and-a-half decade-long association with Deve Gowda.