3 min readBengaluruMay 11, 2026 07:00 PM IST
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Karnataka government over the power tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the chief minister accused the prime minister of abusing Opposition parties like “petty politicians”.
In his speech at a felicitation rally held on Sunday following the BJP’s election victories in West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry, the prime minister accused the Congress of betraying not only its allies but also its own members.
The ally betrayal comment came in the wake of the Congress abandoning the DMK after the regional party lost the Tamil Nadu elections.
In a statement issued on Monday, Siddaramaiah urged Modi to clarify whether his Bengaluru speech was delivered as the “Prime Minister of the country, as the state BJP president or as the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka”. Prime ministers such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, “never stooped to the level of street-style speeches or abused Opposition parties like petty politicians”, he said.
On the purported power-sharing agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Modi had said it was not clear how many days Siddaramaiah would remain the chief minister.
“They have left the second person hanging, undecided whether to give him an opportunity or not,” Modi said, in reference to Shivakumar.
In his statement, Siddaramaiah said, “Through speeches filled with lies, poor taste, hatred and jealousy, Narendra Modi is destroying the dignity, seriousness and propriety of the Prime Minister’s chair, which his predecessors had upheld.”
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On the allegations of betrayal, Siddaramaiah listed out regional parties such as the BSP, TMC, DMK, AIADMK, PDP, and Shiva Sena that had “allied with the BJP and were later betrayed”. The list of Opposition leaders blackmailed into betraying their own parties to join the BJP is also growing, he alleged.
“The people of this country are laughing at the irony of PM Modi, the leader of such a treacherous party, accusing the Congress of betrayal,” he added.
Questioning the claims of progress under Modi’s leadership, Siddaramaiah asked why the prime minister was “now pleading with people not to buy gold, to use less petrol and edible oil, to avoid foreign travel, and to reduce the use of fertilisers. PM Modi must clarify what kind of ‘development’ this reflects”.
