Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, on Thursday asserted that he would continue to remain in active politics despite stepping down from the Chief Minister’s post, stating that he would work to protect the Constitution for the rest of his life.
Siddaramaiah made the remarks while addressing a press conference after submitting his resignation to the Secretary to the Governor at Lok Bhavan in Bengaluru.
“I will remain in politics till my last breath. I will continue to fight against communal forces because they are against the Constitution. Had the Constitution not existed, I would not have received an education or become a minister and Chief Minister. I would have remained a shepherd,” Siddaramaiah said emotionally.
“Till my last breath, I will continue my fight against forces that threaten the Constitution and against communal forces. I will continue my struggle for equality and social justice,” he added.
Speaking about the resignation process, Siddaramaiah said, “I have submitted my resignation from the Chief Minister’s post to the Governor’s Secretary.”
After a brief pause, he continued, “The Governor was not in Bengaluru and officials informed me that he would return tonight. In this background, I submitted my resignation letter to the Governor’s Secretary. I have always maintained, both inside and outside the Assembly, that whenever the high command directs me, I will tender my resignation. Two days ago, the high command asked me to step down and, keeping my word, I have submitted my resignation.”
Visibly emotional during the press conference, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot would formally accept his resignation upon returning to Bengaluru.
“I have full confidence that the Governor will accept my resignation once he returns tonight because, according to the Constitution, it is his responsibility to do so,” he stated.
“Our party enjoys the support of 138 MLAs and others have also extended support to the government. We continue to have a full majority. The Governor must now provide an opportunity to the next Chief Minister to form the government,” Siddaramaiah added.
The outgoing Chief Minister also thanked Congress leaders and party workers for supporting him throughout his political career.
“Kannada film legend Dr. Rajkumar used to address his fans as gods. I am a politician and I believe the Constitution is my religion. Voters are our gods. I had the opportunity to serve seven crore people of Karnataka. I got the opportunity to become Chief Minister twice and also served as Leader of the Opposition two times,” he said.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on this occasion,” Siddaramaiah added.
Recalling his political journey with the Congress party, he said, “I joined the Congress party in 2006. Since then, Congress workers, party leaders, legislators and Members of Parliament have shown affection towards me and created opportunities for me. I convey my gratitude to all of them.”
“I have never compromised on the values and ideologies that I believe in. I strongly believed that every individual, especially the last person in society, should have access to life’s basic priorities such as food, shelter, education and healthcare. With that belief, food and financial assistance were provided to poor people from all communities and religions,” he underlined.
“I have faced every challenge honestly. I have never compromised on our state’s water, land and language. During my eight years as Chief Minister and also during my tenure as Leader of the Opposition, I always stood by these principles,” he emphasised.
“I would like to thank the Congress party and Sonia Gandhi. When I was expelled from the JD(S) and was leading the AHINDA movement, senior Congress leader Ahmad Patel helped arrange my meeting with Sonia Gandhi, after which I decided to join the Congress party.
“At that time, Mallikarjun Kharge was the Karnataka Congress President. Along with me, eight MLAs joined the Congress party. I am grateful to all those MLAs,” Siddaramaiah said.
Siddaramaiah, regarded as the Congress party’s tallest mass leader in Karnataka in recent decades, submitted his resignation on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress President, D.K. Shivakumar, Cabinet ministers and senior party leaders.
His resignation brought an end to weeks of intense speculation and political drama surrounding a possible leadership change in Karnataka.
(IANS)
