HD Kumaraswamy has questioned BS Yeddyurappa's competence to question him.
The BJP plans to hold a huge rally in northern Karnataka's Belagavi district next month as part of its efforts to keep the pressure on the Congress-Janata Dal(Secular) government amid an ongoing farmers' agitation.
"We are holding protests throughout the state, almost at all district and taluk headquarters, today. We will hold a very big rally, one with over one lakh people, at the time of the assembly session in Belagavi on December 10," said state party chief BS Yeddyurappa while leading an agitation in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had earlier dismissed the BJP's criticism on the issue. "There was a BJP core committee meeting on the issue, as if a big revolution was going on. Yeddyurappa, are you giving advice to Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy, Revanna?" he asked.
Mr Kumaraswamy also questioned the BJP leader's right to question his governance, given his own performance as the chief minister. "I have not said that I will be the chief minister for 15-20 years; this is an opportunity given by God," he said. "You say I only have 38 MLAs. Even when you approached me in 2006, I only had 38 MLAs. Why give it a political colour?"
The Chief Minister also ridiculed Mr Yeddyurappa's support to the agitation, stating that he "has woken up to farmer issues" only now.
Many farmers have hit the streets of Karnataka since Sunday, demanding a minimum support price for their crop and loan waivers promised by the Janata Dal(Secular) in the run-up to the assembly elections. After storming the Suvarna Soudha -- the legislature building in Belagavi -- on November 18, they marched to state capital Bengaluru the next day.
At a meeting with farmer representatives on Tuesday, Mr Kumaraswamy promised to sort out most of the issues -- including helping them clear a backlog of dues from sugarcane factories.