Bengaluru: Unhappy with the appointment of BK Hariprasad as the new leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Congress leader CM Ibrahim on January 27 said 'goodbye to the party.' Speaking to the media, Ibrahim said, "Congress is destroying itself. People cannot work without money in Congress. At the time of Indira Ji and Nehru Ji, Congress was a socialistic party, but now it is only a 'Lena bank'. Congress will be defeated in Karnataka."
However, Ibrahim did not announce anything officially. He maintained that he had offers to work with political parties in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and he would take a call soon. He ruled out joining the BJP. His ideology doesn’t match that party.
Training his guns at the party, Ibrahim said the Congress culture today was to say, “Yes boss”. Ibrahim minced no words in saying that he was unable to gel with KPCC President DK Shivakumar.
“Our ways are different,” he said. He also expressed disappointment with Siddaramaiah. He was the one who told Siddaramaiah to contest in Badami as his prospects from Chamundeshwari were bleak, he recalled. “Siddaramaiah gave me a good gift in return,” he lamented.
He also predicted that the political equations would drastically change in Karnataka after the Uttar Pradesh elections. There could be an election soon. People will also see many Congress leaders quitting, he predicted. Commenting on Ibrahim’s statement, KPCC President D K Shivakumar said he would talk to the senior leader. “Ibrahim was made the minister during Siddaramaiah’s tenure as the Chief Minister, by sidelining many legislators. Although he lost elections, he was given Cabinet ranking and was made the Planning Commission chief. He was made the MLC twice,” he reminded.
