Will retire if proved I met Yediyurappa secretly: Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Karnataka opposition leader Siddaramaiah has thrown a challenge that if it is proved that he had met former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa secretly, he will retire from active politics. "Last time I had met Yediyurappa was on his birthday. I have not met him since then. If former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy proves that I met BSY, I will retire from politics. It is Kumaraswamy who meets BSY regularly," Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday night. Reacting to Congress leaders calling party President DK Shivakumar a collection agent, Siddaramaiah maintained that it is not possible.

"Kumaraswamy is raking up issues unnecessarily. He is falsely linking IT raids conducted on Yediyurappa's aides to me. He is targeting me as he is feeling threatened. I have seen many people like him in my political career. Kumaraswamy has entered politics much recently. I do not need lessons from him," he stated.

"Yediyurappa is a former CM - there is BJP government at the Centre and Amit Shah is the home minister - I am the leader of Opposition in Karnataka. Will Narendra Modi listen to me to raid the aides of BSY? I can only laugh at this joke," Siddaramaiah explained replying to the charges of Kumaraswamy.

Kumaraswamy had said that IT raids are being carried out as Yediyurappa met Siddaramaiah secretly to plan to weaken BJP in the state. He also charged that because Siddaramaiah wanted the post of opposition leader, he made the coalition government of JD(S) and Congress collapse, allowing BJP to attain power. Kumaraswamy had also used the slang word 'putagosi' (loincloth, often used to say useless) to describe the post of Opposition Leader.

"Kumaraswamy has insulted the Constitution of India by insulting the position of Leader of Opposition. Is this the respect a former Chief Minister gives to a constitutional position? Even his father H.D. Devegowda had served as Leader of Opposition when Devaraj Urs was Chief Minister," he said.