Siddaramaiah govt worst in 5 decades of my career: S M Krishna

Former CM S M Krishna had his first outing as a BJP leader on Monday when he campaigned for the party in

Nanjangud

and Gundulpet. After 46 years of his association with the Congress, this is the first time Krishna sought votes for a party he had been opposing all his life. In an interaction with reporters at the BJP campaign office in Nanjangud, he termed the Siddaramaiah government the worst in the past five decades. Excerpts.

Your former Congress colleagues have dubbed you a betrayer. Does that hurt you?I have explained my stand for quitting Congress and joining BJP. I have no political ambitions. I don't think I'll make efforts to enter Rajya Sabha from outside Karnataka. I'm here to support Modi's vision to build a strong India.

Some of your party leaders see the bypolls as a referendum on the Siddaramaiah government.Do you endorse it?No. A referendum on the Congress government could be a wrong assumption. We should restrict the results to the respective segments. There are local issues on which people will make up their mind and vote. That's what my political sense says.

How do you rate the performance of the Siddaramaiah government?It's one of the worst governments I've seen in my 55 years of political career. I've seen eminent political leaders before Independence and

CMs

right from K C Reddy . But this gover nment lacks vision about the state's growth.There is no dream. Governance is no 11am to 7pm job. It's a 24x7 job. I would like to draw attention towards PM Modi's style of functioning and gov ernance. Even when he was fasting for nine days, he was working in the South Block till midnight. If we had such a leader, the state would have been somewhere else. What we see is total stagnation. The CM's governance is based on some calculations, which is not the way to put Karnataka on the development track.

What about Congress at the national level?Where is Congress at the national level, we have to look for it. If you can help find it, please do.

Now that you have switched sides you are saying this.Some 18 months ago I addressed a Congress meeting.I referred to Sanskrit aphorism 'Aham Brahmasmi' and expressed my feelings (about Siddaramaiah's governance).When farmers committed suicide in Mandya, the then district minister (M H Ambarish) didn't reach out to them.I don't know whether the CM is aware about it. I went to meet them with some of my friends and consoled the family members of the dead.It was after 3-4 days that the ministers started visiting the area.