— Photo: V.V. Krishnan

INTO THE FOLD: The former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and rebel Janata Dal(S) leader, Siddaramaiah, being felicitated by Congress leader A.K. Antony after he formally joined the Congress in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: The former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, joined the Congress on Saturday. Senior Congress leader A.K. Antony and party leaders from Karnataka N. Dharam Singh, M. Mallikarjun Kharge and H.K. Patil formally welcomed him.

Stating that his entry would strengthen the Congress in Karnataka, Mr. Antony said Mr. Siddaramaiah was admitted in the presence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whom he called on Saturday afternoon.

Describing him as a "politician known for his integrity and commitment to the progress of weaker sections of society," Mr. Antony said the other members from Mr. Siddaramaiah's All India Progressive Janata Dal would be joining the party at a public rally to be organised by the State Congress either during the last week of August or September first week. Mr. Siddaramaiah announced that the party he belonged to would be formally merged with the Congress at the rally.

Reasons

The former Janata Dal (Secular) leader cited three reasons for leaving a party and an ideology he was associated with for over two decades. He said with JD (S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the State, it was no longer able to fight communal and fundamentalist forces. The Congress was the only secular party with which he could associate since both the party and its president were taking on such forces in the country.

In his experience, coalition arrangement could be successful in the State. Ruling out the possibility of any "Siddaramaiah'' group in the Congress, he said his main focus would be to fight the BJP and bring back the Congress to power on its own. "Since the days of Kengal Humanthaiah, D. Devaraj Urs and S. Bangarappa, people of Karnataka have never accepted regional parties," he added.

Asked whether he would prefer to be the Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah said while he had not put any condition while joining the party, every politician had aspirations. "All of us sitting on the stage are not sanyasis,'' he said.

He alleged that Mr. Deve Gowda was running the Kumaraswamy Government in Karnataka. Mr. Siddaramaiah said the JD (S)-BJP Government would not last its term.

As for the allegation of corruption levelled by BJP MLC Janardhan Reddy, he the former Deputy Chief Ministersaid the party haddemanded that Mr. Kumaraswamy step down and face an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

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