Karnataka CM chooses Badami as his second seat
Ending days of speculation over whether he would contest just one seat or two, chief minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday that he would contest and win from both Chamundeshwari and Badami constituencies. Chamundeshwari is part of Mysuru district located in Southern Karnataka whereas Badami is in Bagalkot district of Northern Karnataka.
The Congress’s first list of 218 candidates for the May 12 polls had announced that Siddaramaiah would contest the Chamundeshwari seat, having vacated the Varuna seat for his son Yathindra. The party had also named Devraj Patil as its candidate from the Badami constituency. However, this was subsequently put on hold.
OnThursday,HThadreported how Congress was apprehensive of a secret pact between the BJP and JD(S) to defeat the CM in Chamundeshwari and was looking at preventing such a fallout.
Siddaramaiah, addressing a press conference in Mysuru before filing his nomination, said such a secret pact between the BJP and JD(S) was not new.
The chief minister said such an understanding had been in place even in 2006, when he had contested a bypoll from Chamundeshwari after having joined the Congress from the Janata Dal (Secular). “In 2006, BJP and JD(S) had come together when HD Kumaraswamy was the CM and Yeddyurappa his deputy. They had the might of the state government but still couldn’t defeat me,” he added.
He also said that there was tremendous pressure on him from leaders in the northern districts to contest from there and that is the reason he was contesting from Badami. “Our Bagalkot and Vijayapura district leaders have been pressuring me to contest from Badami, but I told the party high command that I will not. However, as they are pressurising me again, I have told them that I will convey their demands to the high command and will abide by its decision.”
Siddaramaiah also attacked the opposition for lacking a narrative to oppose the government. “Neither PM Narendra Modi, nor BJP president Amit Shah or BS Yeddyurappa have spoken about development works. Modi says this is a 10% government, is there even an iota of evidence to support this?”
The chief minister also criticised Union minister Anatkumar Hegde, who had recently claimed that there was a conspiracy by the state government to kill him after a vehicle in his convoy met with an accident.
Reacting to the development, Yeddyurappa said it was proof that Siddaramaiah was running scared. “The Congress’s general is desperately running for cover from one constituency to another. If the general isn’t confident on his home turf, you can imagine the morale and confidence of his ranks. The writing is on his face,” he tweeted.
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