‘Bombay Days’ to reveal reason behind fall of coalition govt., says Vishwanath – The Hindu

Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath said “Bombay Days”, the book he was writing on the political developments preceding the fall of the erstwhile H.D. Kumaraswamy government last year, will give an insight into the real reason for the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Vishwanath described the fall of the coalition government as a “historic event”, which has unfortunately not been analysed properly and truthfully in the media. His decision to embark upon penning the book was an attempt to portray it in the right perspective.

He decried theories of “purchase of MLAs” and “horse trading” that were attributed to the fall of the government. “No media has analysed the development properly. Why did 17 MLAs from Congress and JD(S) quit the coalition and come out against the government?”, he said.

He went on to add that it was a ‘blunder’ for the political rivals – Congress and JD (S) – to join hands and form a coalition government.

Mr. Vishwanath brushed aside questions on a seat for him in the Legislative Council through a nomination by the government. He said his political stature will remain unaffected whether he is made an MLC or not.

However, he said there is no legal bar on him becoming an MLC. “Nomination to the Legislative Council or the Rajya Sabha does not constitute as an office of profit. Only the post of Minister is an office of profit”, he said.

Much of his interaction with the media, however, was devoted to criticising Congress leader Siddaramaiah for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “unfit”. Hailing Mr. Modi’s contributions as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, which later was typified as “Gujarat model of development”, before his elevation to the office of Prime Minister, Mr. Vishwanath said Mr. Siddaramaiah’s tenure as Chief Minister saw the Congress virtually wiped out of Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls of 2019.

He sought to remind Mr. Siddaramaiah to maintain political decorum while criticising the Prime Minister. “The Opposition should not forget political decency and decorum”, he said.