Even as the last date to file an application along with a deposit seeking a ticket to contest 2023 assembly elections from the Congress party came to end on Monday, former chief minister Siddaramaiah is yet to make up his mind on choosing a constituency given the drubbing he faced in the last elections from Chamundeshwari.
Siddaramaiah announced recently that he will not contest from Badami which he currently represents after winning with a slender margin against B Sriramulu setting him on a state-wide search for a safe seat.
Although KPCC president has extended the deadline now to receive the applications which will go before the screening committee, the fact that the Kuruba leader is undecided on a safe seat has left the party embarrassed.
The BJP took digs at Siddaramaiah with union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi calling him a vagabond searching for a segment where he won’t be defeated. The former chief minister and Lingayat strongman B.S. Yeddiyurappa said Siddaramaiah’s indecisiveness is fear of losing. The JDS too hasn’t sparred Siddaramaiah with H.D. Kumaraswamy saying that either the JDS or BJP need not bother about Siddaramaiah as his own partymen will ensure his defeat.
On Monday after unveiling the specially designed bus to travel the state, Siddaramaiah visited Kolar along with his supporters to take the response from the local leaders there to contest from there. The turf war between former speaker Ramesh Kumar who is a close aide of Siddaramaiah and former union railway minister V Muniyappa led to the latter giving this visit a big miss sparking rumors of a huge rift. Although Siddaramaiah returned to Bengaluru the same night making a statement there he will come back there to file nominations, sources close to the former chief minister told The Daily Guardian Review that he was keeping his options close to his chest.
“There are 5 to 6 constituencies which he is looking at and Kolar was one of them. Very soon he will decide. Chamarjapet in Bengaluru, Varuna in Mysuru, a couple of seats in Charmarajnagar district, and one in Chitradurga are under consideration. He will not go Chamundedhwari,’’ said sources close to Siddaramaiah.
It is a tricky situation for Siddaramaiah as he cannot ask his son to make way from Varuna which is parted last time to give his son a political boost. “This is his last election. Although he has established himself as an OBC mass leader, the fear of forces joining hands has left him on tenterhooks. The Chamundeshwari debacle is still playing on his mind. During the last elections, there were allegations that he caused the defeat of Dr G Paramehswari who was with him in the CM race. This time, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar has made it more than obvious that he is the top contender. Even Rahul Gandhi has acknowledged that Shivakumar is also capable. This has left Siddaramaiah worried,’’ sources in the Congress said.
In 2006 when Siddaramaiah had quit JDS, the Chamundeshwari by-elections were a litmus test and he wriggled out with wafer-thin margin. With JDS on one side, BJP on the other, and the fear of his own partymen sabotaging his chances has made choosing a safe seat jittery for the Ahinda leader.