BENGALURU: Former minister and Chamarajpet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan on Monday said he stands by his demand that senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah should be made the chief minister if the party comes to power in the state. Zameer said, “It is up to the party high command to decide. But I stand by what I had said and am even willing to offer the Chamarajpet assembly seat to Siddaramaiah to contest in the 2023 polls. I am a son of this constituency and Siddarmaiah is the son-in-law and he will win if he contests from here”, he told reporters at Vidhana Soudha.
Asked about former CM and JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy’s statement that C M Ibrahim could also become CM if the JDS comes to power, Zameer challenged the former to declare that a minority leader will become the CM even is there is an alliance government.
He (HDK) knows that the JDS will not come to power on its own and is likely to win only 25-30 seats”, Zameer said, adding that he has not spoken to Kumaraswamy in the recent past. Zameer dared the BJP and the JDS to wrest the Chamarajpet seat from him, adding that no one can win more that 3,500 votes against him. “Though former HD Deve Gowda and JDS leaders tried hard to ensure my defeat last time, it only increased by winning margin,” he said.