‘Government is in my hands’

We have government at Centre: BSY

Three-hour cabinet meeting

BENGALURU: The on-going tussle for power between the ruling JD(S)-Congress combine and the opposition BJP escalated on Thursday with chief minister HD Kumaraswamy saying he will have to ask the people to revolt against state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa if his party continues to “disturb him to topple his government”.“The BJP has been desperately trying to destabilize my government by making use of ill-gotten money,” a visibly upset Kumaraswamy said at a function in Udayagiri in Hassan , his home district. “If it continues, I will urge people to revolt against BJP from this punya bhoomi of Hassan. I am not going to keep quiet. Do they think only they know politicking? I also know how to tackle them.”Kumaraswamy’s outburst was triggered by Yeddyurappa calling the Deve Gowda family “looters of state’s wealth”. For a fortnight now, political circles are abuzz with talk of Yeddyurappa attempting a coup and of 15-20 MLAs from the ruling coalition being poised to switch sides to BJP.Later, Kumaraswamy justified his call for a revolt. “Is it a big crime?’’ he asked. On the BJP planning to meet governor Vajubhai R Vala in this regard, the CM said: “They can go to the governor or even the President of India.’’ Barely 30 minutes after Kumaraswamy’s speech, Congress workers led by S Manohar tried to lay siege to Yeddyurappa’s house at Dollars Colony in Bengaluru. It led to a minor clash with Yeddyurappa’s supporters posing stiff resistance. The situation was brought under control with the mediation of police. The security at Yeddyurappa’s house was later increased.Kumaraswamy’s tirade against Yeddyurappa commenced after visiting water resources minister D K Shivakumar in a hospital. Shivakumar is recuperating from a bout of gastroenteritis . The CM warned that he will have to dig into Yeddyurappa’s alleged misdeeds with regard to the Shivaram Karanth Layout scam if he continued to trouble him and his government.“Mind your language,” Kumaraswamy said. “I am warning you (Yeddyurappa). You are trying to throw stones at us while sitting in a glass house. You cannot do anything to us. Don’t also forget that the government is my hands and I can do anything.”Stating that Yeddyurappa is the father of the “percentage system” in Karnataka, The CM said the man who has a history of doing all things illegally was preaching to him about honesty. “People are watching you. You being senior to me both in age and political experience, people expect you to be dignified in your action and language.”On Yeddyurappa’s statement that Shivakumar will go to jail, Kumaraswamy said: “In 2008 also he had said he would send appa and makkalu (father and sons) to jail. What happened? Who went to jail?” he asked referring to the Yeddyurappa’s jail term in a land denotification case.In Hassan, Kumaraswamy said he has under gone cardiac surgery twice and if he is of weak mind, he would have died in his sleep due to the political pressure. “But I am strong and I am working tirelessly,” he stated.Meanwhile, by evening, Kumaraswamy changed tack. At Channarayapatna he said people are free to rebel against him if they feel he or his family is doing injustice to them.KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao termed reports in a section of media that 22 Congress-JD(S) MLAs are flying to Mumbai in a bid to topple the state government, as baseless and intended to create confusion among people.Reacting to Kumaraswamy’s warning, Yeddyurappa said that he will expose all misdeeds of the Gowda family. “Don’t you forget that we have a government at the Centre,” Yeddyurappa said.The state cabinet which met on Thursday for over three hours discussed the emerging political developments and debated strategies to counter them. Kumaraswamy, who chaired the meeting, exhorted his ministers to gear up for any eventuality and avert the BJP’s attempt to topple his government.