BENGALURU: The confusion over Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah picking a ‘safe seat’ for the Assembly elections continued as it has emerged that he is unlikely to contest from Kolar after he was advised by party senior leader Rahul Gandhi to give it a second thought.
Rahul, it is said, got the information from Sunil Kanugol, Congress strategist for the Karnataka Assembly polls, that Kolar would be a tough bet for Siddaramaiah and he has to toil hard and invest a lot of time there.
It was also discussed at the Congress Election Committee meeting chaired by AICC president Mallikarjuna M Kharge in New Delhi on Friday evening. Still, the final decision of choosing a constituency was left to Siddaramaiah.
Soon after the CEC meeting, Rahul spoke to Siddaramaiah personally for about ten minutes. That was when he asked Siddaramaiah to consider contesting from the Varuna seat which will allow him time for other constituencies. Siddaramaiah has discussed it with his close set of confidantes, the sources added. Siddaramaiah later told the media, “The CEC has not cleared the Assembly constituency that I am going to contest from. I have left it to the party high command.”
On Saturday, MLCs Anil Kumar, Nazeer Ahmed and former minister MR Seetharam met Siddaramaiah at his residence on Saturday, insisting that he contest from Kolar. But Siddarmaiah told them that he will go by the high command’s decision and also hinted that he could opt for Varuna in Mysuru, the sources said. His son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah, who represents the seat now, has said a number of times that he is willing to sacrifice the seat for his father.
Siddaramaiah could backtrack from Kolar as there are indications that his opponents from JDS, BJP and also from within Congress are hatching plots to defeat him, the sources said. Recently, a group of Dalits launched an open campaign against him.
JDS senior leader HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that whether Siddaramaiah’s contests from Kolar or not, JDS has an edge as it is the party bastion. “For over six months, talks of a safe seat for Siddaramaiah have been going on. It is unwarranted. Is it a testimony of him having lost his strength as a leader,” he asked.
Siddu cancels visit to Kolar
Kolar: The proposed tour of Siddaramiah to Kolar on March 19 and 21 has been postponed, said MLC Anil Kumar. He has also cancelled all programmes across the state till April 1, Anil added. Party workers and leaders have already started campaigning for Siddaramaiah and the response has been good in all parts of the constituency, he said.