Bengaluru: A video of former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, purportedly accusing senior Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan of working against him and the party, went viral on social media on Thursday.
Siddaramaiah can be heard saying this to a man, reportedly a supporter of Khan, who urged the former CM to ensure that his leader is inducted into the cabinet led by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar during the expansion.
Khan was a minister in Siddaramaiah’s cabinet and was considered among his close confidants.
When the man holding a poster requested Siddaramaiah to make Khan a minister, the former CM asked, “Did I ask him to work against the party?”
Later, when the man repeated his request, stating that Khan was his “close loyalist,” the visibly upset former CM could be heard asking, “Does that mean he can work against me?”
Subsequently, an angry Siddaramaiah asked the man to leave the place. The exchange is said to have taken place a couple of days ago at the former CM’s official residence in Bengaluru.
Khan, a ministerial aspirant, did not make it to the cabinet in the first phase, when Shivakumar was sworn in as CM along with 13 ministers on June 3.
His supporters have been protesting, demanding that their leader be made a minister; some have even demanded the post of deputy CM for him.