Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in the state was strong enough to stand the test of time. “The government will be safe,” he said, according to Deccan Chronicle. “There is no doubt in that. It will be stable.”
Siddaramaiah’s clarification come two days after he was heard speaking sceptically about the coalition government completing its five-year term.
After a meeting of the Congress coordination meeting in Bengaluru on Friday, the Congress veteran insisted that he was not unhappy. “Who told you I am unhappy?” he asked, reported NDTV. “What I have said and in what context you do not know.” Siddaramaiah heads the co-ordination committee of the two parties.
He said the people who shared the videos were not aware of the context, adding it was unethical to record something “that is being said casually”. He said, “You don’t know the context. Nobody knows.”
In a video telecast on TV9 Kannada, an unidentified person asks Siddaramaiah if the government will complete its full term. He is heard saying, “Five years...difficult...let’s see what will happen after the parliament election [in 2019].” The video was shot in Dharmasthala where Siddaramaiah is undergoing treatment at a naturopathy hospital.
This came two days after another video clip showed him expressing his displeasure to a few Congress MLAs over the presentation of a new Budget. On June 16, Siddaramaiah had said Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy must present a supplementary budget instead of a new budget.
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