'Who said I'm unhappy?' Siddaramaiah rubbishes viral videos on Congress-JDS govt

BENGALURU: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday rubbished the viral videos in which he could purportedly be seen expressing doubts about the longevity of the Janata Dal Secular (JDS)-Congress government. He stated that he was not unhappy about the ruling coalition in Karnataka as was being projected. He also added that there was no doubt that the government will be a stable one.

"Who told you that I'm unhappy," he said in response to a question about speculation he was unhappy with the coalition government.

In response to the recording of the videos, Siddaramaiah said that video-graphing of a casual talk and making it public is "unethical". "What I have said, in what context I have said you do not know. Whoever it is, recording my casual talk with someone and making it public without knowing the context... Is it not unethical," he questioned.

"You too don't know in what context I have spoken, nobody knows. So I don't have anything to do with it," he said while speaking to reporters.

"We have formed a coalition government to keep away the communal BJP out of power. The coalition government will be stable; there is no doubt in that. It will be stable," Siddaramaiah said.

A video showing Siddaramaiah purportedly expressing doubts about the longevity of the JD(S)-Congress government had surfaced on Tuesday, adding to the strains of the coalition. Another video surfaced on Sunday, purportedly showing him expressing his displeasure to Congress legislators over the presentation of a fresh budget. The videos were said to be recorded there without his knowledge.

Siddaramaiah, who had held the finance portfolio in the previous government, recently said there was no need for a fresh budget and insisted that a supplementary budget would do. Divergent views have been aired in public by some Congress and JD(S) leaders on several issues, including presentation of the budget. The former CM heads the co-ordination committee of the JDS and the Congress.