Vishwanath rules out releasing his book Bombay Days

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Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Thursday. | Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

Former Minister A.H. Vishwanath on Thursday said he would not be releasing his book Bombay Days.

The book, authored by the veteran politician, is believed to be an insider’s account of the 2019 political upheaval in Karnataka that led to the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy and the formation of the BJP government led by B.S. Yediyurappa.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Thursday, Mr. Vishwanath said that although he had completed writing Bombay Days, he would not publish it.

He said he did not want people to become overly disgusted with politics and politicians. “I won’t release the book. If I do, it will create chaos in politics,” he said.

Mr. Vishwanath criticised Mysuru district in-charge Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah for reportedly speaking lightly about the erstwhile Mysuru royal family.

He said Mr. Yathindra lacked experience and called upon the Minister to acquire adequate knowledge before making such remarks. He advised Mr. Yathindra to read Mysuru’s history and understand the background of the Mysuru royal family.

Mr. Vishwanath recalled that the late scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, had campaigned for Mr. Siddaramaiah during the crucial by-election to the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency in 2006.

He said Mr. Siddaramaiah would not have been able to win the by-election without Mr. Srikantadatta Wadiyar’s support. He would not have become Chief Minister either, Mr. Vishwanath said, while criticising the former Chief Minister for not speaking well of Mr. Srikantadatta Wadiyar.

The former Minister, however, praised Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar for expressing regret if the development had hurt the erstwhile royal family.

Reacting to BJP leaders B.Y. Vijayendra and R. Ashoka expressing optimism about the saffron party returning to power in the 2028 Assembly elections following the NDA candidates’ victories in the recent Karnataka Legislative Council elections, Mr. Vishwanath drew attention to the BJP candidate’s defeat in the Legislative Council election from Varanasi, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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