Bengaluru, 2 July

Congress MLA BR Patil on Wednesday issued a clarification over his "luck lottery" remarks about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and stated that the latter was elevated to the top post based on his "mass leadership".

In a self-recorded video message, Patil said, "Electronic media and social media are twisting my statements and trying to tarnish my image. When I was speaking to one of my close friends in Krishnaraja Pete, Siddaramaiah's name came up, and I said he was lucky that he became the Chief Minister. I did not say that I introduced him to Sonia Gandhi. I was with him when we met Sonia Gandhi. He is a mass leader, and I'm not powerful enough to make him the Chief Minister…. Some are trying to break our close relationship intentionally. Nine of our MLAs in the leadership of Siddaramaiah joined the Congress from JD(S), Congress also made him the Chief Minister by looking at his mass leadership..."