Addressing the BJP workers in Maddur, former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna came down heavily against Rahul Gandhi and has cited ‘constant interference’ from the present Congress president as the reason behind quitting the Congress. In March 2017, he joined the BJP in the presence of party chief Amit Shah. Krishna had served as Karnataka’s chief minister from 1999 to 2004 and was the External Affairs Minister in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet.
SM Krishna lashed out against Rahul Gandhi and said that Gandhi scion forced him to quit the party. Bolstering the notion of the Gandhi family’s interference, when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister, Krishna added that his resignation as the foreign minister also came in the wake of Rahul’s intervention.
“Ten years ago, Rahul was an MP and didn’t hold any party post but would interfere in all matters. Even though Manmohan Singh was the PM, many subjects were taken up without bringing it to his notice.
Congress did not have any control over alliance parties. It was then that all major scams like 2G spectrum, Commonwealth and coal were reported. Such situations arise when there’s no able leadership,” said Krishna who later joined the BJP.
“As I was in power in the UPA government from 2009 to 2014, I’m equally responsible for all good and bad things which happened then,” he said.
The former foreign minister also took a jibe at Manmohan Singh and said that he had no control over his cabinet and everything was controlled by Rahul Gandhi. Krishna is of the view that it was the weak leadership of Manmohan Singh which resulted in scams like 2G, Commonwealth Games, and Coalgate.
Krishna went on to add, “From 2009 to 2014 when I was external affairs minister, there was a suffocating environment in the party.”
SM Krishna had been one of the close aides of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi and had held key ministerial positions at both centre and state.
On the other hand, the 84-year old leader while joining the BJP in 2017 had heaped praises on former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said, “When I was Chief Minister between 1999 and 2004, Atal Behari Vajpayeeji was Prime Minister and Ananth Kumarji is witness to the fact that Atalji always had a soft corner for me.”
After joining the BJP, the leader has largely kept away from active politics but had participated in the campaign against former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.
