Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj during a demonstration in Mysuru on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram
Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj has hit out at the “high command” culture in political parties for paving the way for Siddaramaiah’s “premature” ouster from the post of Chief Minister.Sharing his disappointment with the Congress high command for “necking out”, a “dignified” person like Mr. Siddaramaiah from the post of Chief Minister, Mr. Nagaraj told reporters in Mysuru that all the democrats in the country should condemn the manner in which Mr. Siddaramaiah was asked to step down.He questioned the Congress high command’s decision to direct Mr. Siddaramaiah to resign without consulting either the MLAs or Ministers. “What was his crime? What were the allegations against him?” he questioned before stating that the Congress leadership’s action was not “democratic”.Stating that he felt “darkness” surround him for about three days after Mr. Siddaramaiah resigned, Mr. Nagaraj also expressed disappointment over the absence of any demonstration against the dismissal.While blaming the “high command” culture, he also recalled the manner in which former Congress Chief Ministers in Karnataka, viz Veerendra Patil and S. Bangarappa, were removed.Though former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also came to Bengaluru to look into certain allegations against the then Chief Minister B.D. Jatti, the country’s first Prime Minister, allowed Mr. Jatti to continue in the post. “This high command culture came after (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi,” he said.He drew a parallel to the removal of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa by the BJP “high command”. He said the “Hindi” high command was trying to impose its rule on Karnataka.When reporters asked whether Mr. Siddaramaiah should contest in the Assembly elections in 2028, Mr. Nagaraj said Mr. Siddaramaiah should keep contesting elections as long as he was strong while remaining in the Assembly and participating in the debates in the House. “His presence lends respect to the House,” he said while also asking political parties not to field any candidate against him in deference to his seniority.DKSWhile making it clear that he had no grievance against Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who succeeded Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Nagaraj, while fielding questions, made it clear that a Chief Minister should restrict religious ceremonies to his house.He said the “homas and havanas” should be performed only at his house and not in the office. However, he also sought to make it clear that he, too, offers pujas. Published - June 07, 2026 07:50 pm IST
