Exasperated with a bitter alliance with the JDS, and worst-ever drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, former Chief Minister and Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah is keen to present a ground report to convince the Congress high command to terminate the alliance. Though the leadership is retaining the alliance to strengthen a joint front against the Narendra Modi government, and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda is keen to hold talks with Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah feels the alliance failed as mutual transfer of votes did not happen.
Siddaramaiah, who predicts that the “illegitimate” BJP government will fall within a year, spoke on a wide range of issues in a conversation with K Shiva Kumar. Excerpts:

The spat between you and Deve Gowda almost broke the Cong-JDS alliance.What if the Congress high command wants to keep it going?
Though the decision on the alliance will be decided by the high command, we are interacting with local leaders and workers to gather their opinions. Since the alliance did not serve its purpose and JDS and Congress votes did not get transferred in the Lok Sabha elections, we will make our presentation before the high command.

You have been predicting mid-term polls in the state. Why?
I’m very confident of mid-term elections as the government headed by BS Yediyurappa will not last long. The BJP made a backdoor entry with 105 MLAs, and does not have the mandate. It needs eight MLAs for absolute majority. Since the disqualification petitions of 17 MLAs are pending before the Supreme Court, the situation may worsen after the ruling. I believe there is unrest within the BJP and many senior leaders are upset. How can Yediyurappa give a stable government with so many complex issues?

Has Congress started preparations for bypolls?
We’re preparing for byelections in all 17 assembly constituencies. Preparations will gain momentum soon after the Supreme Court verdict. We’re also preparing for mid-term elections, following developments in the BJP.

As the main opposition, your party is not doing enough to turn the tables against PM Modi and the BJP’s failures...
As a responsible opposition party, the Congress formed six teams to tour flood-affected areas to take note of relief work and compile a report. Based on the findings, the party staged a protest and sought the Governor’s intervention. At least 1 lakh families are affected and crops on 20 lakh acres have been washed away. We went slow on attacking the government as it is less than one month old. We will expose the failure of the Modi government in giving flood relief to Karnataka, while it is generous to other states.

Will you demand a special legislature session to discuss flood and drought?
We have already demanded that CM Yediyurappa convene a week-long legislature session to discuss floods and drought,

Your recent political moves are being seen as a strategy to get the post of Leader of the Opposition...
I have never lobbied for any position in the four decades of my political career. In fact, I have declined key positions in the past. It is up to the high command to pick the opposition leader.

How do you plan to fight BJP’s alleged vendetta politics? Is DKS a target?
It is unfortunate that the Central government is taking up vendetta politics, and targeting opposition leaders. Authoritarian politics is taking centrestage. Was the arrest of former finance minister P Chidambaram necessary? The Centre has misused constitutional institutions to target DK Shivakumar for hosting MLAs from Gujarat. They are law-abiding citizens, there is no need to arrest them.