Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday took a veiled dig at his deputy DK Shivakumar amid the ongoing power tussle between the two leaders and said that the mandate given to Congress by the people of the state is not a 'moment' but a 'responsibility' for all five years. Although Shivakumar issued a clarification later and said his 'word power' remark were regarding the Constitution Day, Siddaramaiah said a word is not power unless its betters the world for the people.
"The mandate given by the people of Karnataka is not a moment, but a responsibility that lasts five full years. The Congress party, including me, is walking the talk for our people with compassion, consistency, and courage," he said in a post on X, adding that his government's "word to Karnataka is not a slogan, it means the World" to them.
In his post, the chief minister also recounted the steps taken by his government in Karnataka over the years. In his first term from 2013-18, Siddaramaiah said Congress had fulfilled 157 of 165 promises. In his current term, the Congress has already fulfilled over 243 of the 593 promises "with commitment, credibility, and care", he said.
"Proud to declare that the Shakti scheme has delivered over 600 crore free trips to the women of our state," he said. "From the very first month of forming the government, we transformed our guarantees into action; not in words, but on the ground."
Shivakumar's 'word' post and his clarification
Siddaramaiah's X post seems to be a veiled dig at Shivakumar, who earlier in the posted on the micro-blogging site that "word power is world power". "The biggest force in the world is to keep one’s word. Be it a judge, president or anyone else, including myself, everyone has to walk the talk. Word power is world power," he had posted.
However, the deputy chief minister issued a clarification and said his remarks were on Constitution Day. "Yesterday, on Constitution Day, I was speaking about the importance of our words. Whatever judges say, whatever politicians say—it is all very important," he told reporters in Mumbai.
According to reports, Congress had finalised a 2.5-year formula amid competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the top post after the 2023 Karnataka elections. The buzz has once intensified over the chief ministerial post with the Siddaramaiah government completing its half-term. However, both leaders have clarified that they would adhere to the Congress top brass' decision in the state.
