BENGALURU: Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, who is likely to switch back to Old Mysuru region from Badami constituency for the 2023 assembly polls, is keeping many options open, including Tumakuru. On Saturday, a Kuruba community event is likely to provide him an opportunity to emerge as the unquestionable leader again, as in 2013, which had catapulted him to the CM’s gaddi.
This time, he has kept both his political friends and foes guessing about which constituency he is likely to pick in 2023. It is an open secret that Siddaramaiah will be in the race for chief minister if the Congress gets a majority -- his supporters at a recent event in Tumakuru insisted on it, and he agreed by clarifying that national politics is not his cup of tea, and that he wished to remain in state politics.
His supporters, including former MLA K N Rajanna, who had played a key role in the defeat of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, feel that Tumakuru is a safe bet for him. Former MLC Ramesh Babu observed that Chikkanayakanahalli is not safe for Siddaramaiah, as the narrative is likely to go against him.
“Chikkanayakanahalli is a backward class bastion. We insist that he contest from there in 2023,” said Huliyaru Siddaramaiah, a former ZP member from the constituency. Leaders such as former Chitradurga MP Chandrappa and former Hosadurga MLA B G Govindappa agree, and say it will help candidates in adjacent constituencies.
During the 2018 assembly polls, former minister T B Jayachandra’s son T J Santhosh of the Congress had garnered over 33,000 votes in Chikkanayakanahalli, which had indirectly helped Law Minister J C Madhuswamy defeat JDS candidate C B Suresh Babu, a Kuruba leader. Now, even Jayachandra is inviting Siddaramaiah to contest from here, as it will help him too in Sira assembly seat, which he lost twice consecutively, including the bypoll. Siddaramaiah had lost Chamundeshwari and won Badami, though by a slender margin, in 2018, and his son Dr Yathindra had won from Varuna.