Bengaluru, May 28 (PTI) Bengaluru, May 28 (PTI) Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday said he resigned his position as Chief Minister, ending months of speculation of leadership change following intense power tussle with his deputy D K Shivakumar for the coveted post.
Noting that the Congress leadership offered him a Rajya Sabha ticket, he said he declined it as he preferred active politics in Karnataka “to fight against communal forces till my last breath”.
Announcing his resignation at a packed press conference, the 77-year-old leader asserted that he was demitting office with a clean conscience and thanked his party brass for providing him an opportunity to serve the people for two terms.
Since Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot was not in the town, he handed over his resignation letter to the Governor’s special secretary Prabhu Shankar. “I have tendered my resignation from the Chief Minister’s post. I am confident the Governor would accept my resignation as per Constitutional provisions,” he said. Siddaramaiah said he had stated repeatedly that he would resign whenever the high command instructed him.
“The high command directed me two days ago to step down, and accordingly, I have submitted my resignation today. I got the opportunity to serve the people of Karnataka twice, for which I thank Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi & Mallikarjun Kharge,” Siddaramaiah added.
Asked whether the high command exerted pressure on him, he said, “What pressure? I voluntarily resigned immediately after they asked me to.” He underscored that he was demitting office with clean conscience.
He asserted that he had never compromised on values and ideology and had never run after power or money. Also, he had never thought about accumulating wealth and his political career of 50 years was an open book.
Siddaramaiah hit out at the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly “spreading misinformation” about the five guarantees of his government and that its implementation would make Karnataka bankrupt.
Flanked by his deputy and successor Shivakumar, the Chief Minister thanked all his party colleagues and made it clear that he will continue in active politics.
“The high command asked me to go to the Rajya Sabha. I declined it humbly. I am not interested in national politics. I will remain in state politics. The people have elected me for five years, and two years are still left. Till then, I will work for the people of Karnataka and for the people of my constituency,” Siddaramaiah said.
Tracing his political journey of ‘struggle,’ he said he never dreamt becoming an MLA, Leader of the Opposition, a minister and a Chief Minister. “My entry into politics was accidental because neither my parents nor anyone else related to my family was in politics,” he said.
Only those with people’s support can survive and therefore, he has never compromised on the values and ideology he believed in. On issues concerning land, water and language, too he never compromised and would never do since those are the rights of the people. Underlining his commitment to the Constitution, Siddaramaiah said it allowed him to get educated and become the chief minister.
“For me, the Constitution itself is our religion. Till my last breath, I will continue to fight against communal forces because the Constitution stands against such forces,” he said.
Had there been no Constitution, he would neither have become educated nor have become a minister or chief minister.
“Without the Constitution, I would have been grazing sheep or ploughing fields because my parents were uneducated,” he said.
Reposing his faith in Buddha, 12th Century AD social reformer Basaveshwara, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar, Siddaramaiah said society must become egalitarian.
The programmes and policies of his government were meant for equality.
Siddaramaiah noted that his government made 550 promises, of which 300 have been fulfilled so far including the five pre-poll guarantees.
The BJP alleged that such guarantees could not be implemented. It claimed that the state would go bankrupt and that the treasury would become empty.
“We are number one in the entire country in per capita income. In GST collection, we are number two in the country after Maharashtra,” Siddaramaiah asserted. The Chief Minister alleged that the state is currently in revenue deficit because the previous BJP government had financially damaged the state.
