MYSURU: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who has announced that he will contest elections from Kolar, has vowed to settle scores with political rival GT Deve Gowda and the JDS, and regain his lost turf of Chamundeshwari.
Siddaramaiah has started making calculated moves and is opening doors to disgruntled JDS leaders who have fallen out with Deve Gowda, to prove to his detractors that he will have the last laugh in Chamundeshwari, that elected him five times since 1983.
It’s been almost a decade since JDS wrested the seat from the Congress, and Siddaramaiah’s defeat here in 2018 is frequently ridiculed. It is also referred to by his rivals, who make jibes at the opposition leader who has now hopped from Badami constituency to Kolar. This has prompted Siddaramaiah and his supporters to teach Deve Gowda and his party a lesson, besides ensuring an impressive Congress victory in Chamundeshwari. Congressmen claim that Deve Gowda’s defeat will be celebrated as Siddaramaiah’s victory.
Since Siddaramaiah has announced that he will be fighting his last election in 2023, he hopes to bid goodbye to a four-decade-long political career with sweet revenge, ensuring the defeat of his one-time loyalist turned rival Deve Gowda, who defeated him by a margin of 36,042 votes. He wants to prove that he is still a force to reckon with on his home turf, besides sending a message to his rivals in Mysuru region.
Deve Gowda had stayed away from the JDS for more than two years, warming up to ruling BJP and Congress leaders, and sending feelers that he was ready to quit and join them, upsetting JDS leaders and cadres. His decision to continue in the JDS has not gone down well with them, and disagreements have come to the fore in the party rank and file. This could turn into a blessing for the Congress.
Many leaders, including former ZP member Beerehundi Basavanna, Mavinahalli Sidde Gowda, Made Gowda, Kempanayaka and others will join the Congress along with thousands of their supporters, at a rally on Saturday at Lingadevara Koppalu on Mysuru-Hunsur Road. The disgruntled leaders have organised rallies at the same venue where the JDS flagged off Kumaraparva in the run-up to the 2018 election.
Congress leader K Marigowda said the convention will be a show of strength for Siddaramaiah, who had represented Chamundeshwari five times and spent Rs 1500 crore on the development of the constituency from 2013 to 2018. He said the people of the constituency will shower their love on Siddaramaiah by ensuring an emphatic victory for the Congress candidate and his leadership in the 2023 polls. Listing out the achievements, he said that villages and Dalit colonies were developed using SC/ST special component funds, 5,000 houses were built and 2,400 sanctioned near Mandagalli.