After weeks of speculation, it’s official – Siddaramaiah is all set to contest from the Varuna seat in the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections.
The Congress made the announcement on Saturday when it released its first list of candidates for polls due in May. The decision was reportedly made directly by the Congress high command.
For weeks, speculations were rife about Siddaramaiah’s seat search. The Congress high command was reportedly told following an internal survey that the Kolar seat which the former chief minister was keen on contesting was no longer a safe seat.
Following the Congress high command decision, Siddaramaiah supporters from Kolar gathered in large numbers outside his Bengaluru residence last week to put pressure on the party to grant him his Kolar ticket wish.
Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra is currently the MLA from Varuna. He earlier said he was ready to give up this seat for his father.
The twist in the tale however comes after Siddaramaiah hinted that he might contest not just from Varuna, but also take his chances and contest from the Kolar seat as well.
Sources say Siddaramaiah has made a special request to the party high command urging them to grant him permission to contest from Kolar as well.
“I have requested the party high command allow me to contest from two constituencies and give a ticket for Kolar along with the Varuna constituency. My son will not contest this election as I’m contesting from his constituency,” Siddaramaiah said.
In the 2018 polls, Siddaramaiah, had contested from Chamundeshwari seat in Mysuru and Badami seat in Bagalkot as the incumbent CM. He lost in Chamundeshwari and won in Badami by a narrow margin.
While KPCC Chief DK Shivakumar has been fielded from Kanakapura constituency as expected, Priyank Kharge, son of AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, will continue to contest from Chittapur constituency. A majority of the candidates on the first list are incumbents, with very few new names appearing.
Recently inducted BJP MLC Puttanna, whose inclusion into Congress caused displeasure among other ticket aspirants, has been given a ticket from Rajajinagar constituency. Congress’ second list of candidates are likely to be announced in 3-4 days.
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