Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday mocked Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy by referring to reports that mentioned that HDK said he was being treated "like a clerk" by the coalition government in the state.
Speaking at Ramlila Maidan at the BJP National Convention in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “In Telangana, the coalition was badly defeated and in Karnataka, where the coalition’s first government was formed, the Chief Minister there is so worried -- and it has only been a few months -- that he says instead of a Chief Minister, he has been treated like a clerk.”
Reacting to the jibe, Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy said that he was “amused” by Modi making baseless allegations for the second time.
"I am amused to see Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacting to a statement which I never made. After farmers loan, this is the second time he is reacting to false information/statement. Such statements won't deter our coalition government from the development agenda,” Chief Minister Kumaraswamy said.
I am amused to see Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi reacting to a statement which I never made. After farmers loan this is the second time he is reacting to false information/statement.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) January 12, 2019
Such statements won't deter our coalition government from the development agenda.
Last week, several media reports had surfaced which claimed that the Chief Minister had shed tears at a JD(S) party meeting. The reports also claimed that Kumaraswamy felt like he was being offered the position of a clerk while the Congress leaders were trying to usurp power. Soon after the reports surfaced, Kumaraswamy called them baseless, and told the media that he had never said anything of the sort.
In response to Modi’s statement, former CM Siddaramaiah said, “Looks like Sangh Parivaar's clerk Prime Minister Modi is speaking from his own experiences. Old habits... the rest you know”.
ಸಂಘ ಪರಿವಾರದ 'ಕ್ಲರ್ಕ್' ಆಗಿರುವ #PMNarendraModi ಅವರು ತಮ್ಮ ಅನುಭವದ ಮಾತಿನಲ್ಲಿಯೇ #HDKumaraswamy ಅವರನ್ನು ಟೀಕಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) January 12, 2019
ಹುಟ್ಟುಗುಣ ಸುಟ್ಟರೂ....
In December last year, PM Modi had called the farm loan waiver a cruel joke and that only 800 farmers in the state had benefited from Kumaraswamy's loan waiver scheme.
Soon after, Kumaraswamy had called the accusations incorrect and insensitive, while listing out the total number of loans that were waived in the state.