“Gandhi was a Mahatma. But his son was a drunkard. There is no guarantee that the son will turn out to be like his father. I have worked with former chief minister S.R. Bommai. We will have to wait for two months to see if Basavaraj Bommai has imbibed his father's qualities,” said former Karnataka chief minister and leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah, while replying to a question by reporters in Mysuru on the new chief minister's style of administration.
Siddaramaiah, who was a Janata Parivar (and later Janata Dal (Secular)) leader before joining the Congress in 2006, said "S.R. Bommai was in Samata Congress, Janata Party and then Janata Dal. His son Basavaraj Bommai was also in Janata Dal before he joined the BJP in 2008. He has now become the chief minister. He should take the opportunity to do good work."
The Karnataka BJP, in a series of tweets, slammed Siddaramaiah for targeting Bommai and demanded to know if Siddaramaiah was referring to Indira Gandhi's son or Sonia Gandhi's.
"Generally, the children get only illnesses from heredity. Culture, behaviour and abilities are earned. Media had reported that your elder son was an alcoholic and had committed atrocities against elders in an inebriated state. Now, can one generalise and say it was his father's traits? How many of your traits are in your other son Dr Yathindra?," taunted the BJP.
