MYSURU: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who was on a whirlwind tour of Karnataka ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections, has returned to his home turf Varuna in Mysuru district. Varuna has drawn national attention with the BJP fielding V Somanna, a minister in the Bommai cabinet, and a strong Lingayat leader, against Siddaramaiah. The campaigning has reached the zenith in Varuna with Union Home Minister Amit Shah even promising a “big post” for Somanna if the BJP returns to power. This has forced Siddaramaiah, a strong AHINDA leader, to hit the ground with star campaigners in Varuna. His son Dr Yathindra is the sitting MLA from Varuna.
On Thursday, TNIE accompanied the former CM on his campaign trail in Varuna. Siddaramaiah started his campaign by offering a puja at Ramalingeshwara temple at Ramapura and climbed on an open bus. He was accompanied by local leaders and Sandalwood actor Nishvika Naidu.
As he entered a Dailt colony, he was handed over a blue flag with a portrait of Dr BR Ambedkar. An aarati was performed by women. As he was all set to leave Varuna, a group of Lingayat community leaders came to him and handed him a photo of Basavanna sending out a message to BJP that not all Lingayat-Veerashaivas are with the saffron party.
Siddaramaiah left for Goddanapura Maraluru, a village with a significant population of Kurubas and Dalits. Thousands of people had gathered at the main circle to welcome him with a 50-kg garland made of pineapple. By the time he reached the village, Sandalwood star Shivarajkumar joined Siddaramaiah. The scene resembled that of a Dasara procession as women, children and senior citizens climbed buildings and trees to catch a glimpse of both Siddaramaiah and Shivarajkumar. Many were seen showering flower petals on the duo and the road resembled a floral carpet.
What was more interesting was the fact that more than the flags of Congress, flags carrying the image of Siddaramaiah outnumbered in all the villages. “Though I belong to the Lingayat community, I was not happy with the way Siddaramaiah spoke about my community and my leaders. But his development works and welfare programmes speak volumes and the way our villages are developed needs to be appreciated. The Congress we saw during the regime of the former PM the late Indira Gandhi and to that of today is very different... irrespective of the party, we will vote for Siddaramaiah who is the son of the soil... this is also his last election,” said Kariyappa, who was waiting for Siddaramaiah at Hulimavu village.
The craze to see Siddaramaiah and other stars campaigning was such that most of the workers from industries in Tandya Industrial area had taken half a day leave and were seen standing in their uniforms along the main road to get a glimpse of them.
Interestingly, people from Davanagere and Shivamogga came voluntarily to campaign for Siddaramaiah. The campaign trail that reached Thandavapura resumed by 3pm to reach Kempisiddanahundi, Hulimavu, Hadinaru, and Hosakote villages by evening.Reiterating that he is the son of this soil, Siddaramaiah said that voters must bless him again by electing him by a huge margin.
“This is my last election. You ensured my victory in 2008 and 2013, which made me the opposition leader and even the CM. Outsiders can’t bring development and I request you to vote in favour of me,” he urged the voters taking an indirect dig at BJP’s Somanna.
He further said that he was never against any community and always strived for social justice. “We brought Indira Canteen, Anna bhagya and many other schemes and programmes that covered all communities and were not announced to please any one particular community. Being a follower of Buddha-Basava-Ambedkar, I seek support from all communities,” he said.
While the Congress is facing the wrath of BJP and Hindu organisations over its manifesto mentioning a ban on the Bajrang Dal, people raising the slogan ‘Jai Bajrangi’ were heard every now and then as the ‘Bajrangi’ movie star Shivarajkumar accompanied Siddaramaiah. Meanwhile, the sloga ‘Mundina Mukhyamantri Siddaramaiah’ (Next CM Siddaramaiah) made a huge noise throughout the campaign with ‘Boss Boss, Siddu Boss’ being a new addition, which was coined by actress Ramya.
“Siddaramaiah and his son have ensured that we live a decent life with the best basic facilities. We want Siddaramaiah as our next CM to give a push to industrialisation and more cottage industries to create jobs,” said Mahesh of Hoskote.
SIDDU THANKS Dr RAJ FAMILY
Actor Shivarajkumar, who campaigned for Siddaramaiah at Varuna, brought people from different walks of life and gave a new colour to the campaigning. Thanking the family of Dr Rajkumar, Siddaramaiah said, “I thank Shivarajkumar and his wife Geetha for coming. Shivarajkumar’s presence makes me feel like Dr Rajkumar has come and blessed me,” he said. He also tweeted that whenever Dr Rajkumar met him, he would say ‘Namma Kaadinavaru’ (from our place) and would offer a hug. “Today Shivarajkumar also became ‘Namma Kadinavaru’,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.