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Updated: Jul 23, 2019 20:39 IST

The Karnataka assembly and the Kumaraswamy government’s trust vote was at the centre of the bitterly fought slugfest between the state’s ruling coalition and the Bharatiya Janata party for several days. As the trust vote debate reached the endgame on Tuesday, there were barbs, darts and the constant digs at opponents.

Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who was criticised by the opposition BJP for being “absent” from the Assembly for most part of Tuesday, took the floor in the evening. He said that he isn’t power hungry and ready to leave the CM’s chair if required. “I’m hurt, and with great happiness I am giving up this post,” he said.

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The Karnataka CM criticised those taking to social media to target his brother HD Revanna and calling him superstitious. “Just because he went to a temple and they gave him four lemons, the media started saying he is superstitious. He is a simple person and people make fun of that,” said Kumaraswamy.

Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, known for witty responses, said Revanna should have given those lemons to somebody who makes pickles.

Kumaraswamy again attacked the BJP for targeting him for his photograph with the prime accused in the multi-crore IMA Ponzi scam Mansoor Khan. He had clarified on Monday that he had not eaten any biryani and only attended a Ramzan event.

There were some light moments also on Tuesday morning when Congress leader DK Shivakumar was speaking in the assembly. The Congress troubleshooter said that he belonged to a simple middle class family, the speaker quipped that the “respect of the middle class is upgraded”. Shivakumar then said he has grown thanks to his voters and investments in business.

Also read: 10 reasons why the Kumaraswamy government has finally collapsed | Analysis

Shivakumar is one of the richest lawmakers in the country. He declared assets of over Rs 700 crore in his affidavit filed before the Karnataka assembly polls in 2018.