Veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday said that Karnataka’s 2023 Assembly elections would be his last, but would remain in politics. The Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly has said that he has not yet decided from which seat he will contest in the next elections and will abide by the party’s decision on the face of the Congress chief minister for the vote.
“I will stay in politics, but electoral politics – I will probably contest the next assembly election,” he said, adding that there was still one year to go before the assembly election, and that no call had been made.
“Party workers and well-wishers from Varuna, Hunsur, Chamrajpet, Badami, Kolar, Hebbal, Koppal and Chamundeshwari are asking me to contest from their constituencies. I have not yet decided where to go (to contest), “he added. There has been speculation in the party for some time that the former chief minister, who is currently representing Badami in North Karnataka, may return to his home in the old Mysore region for the next assembly elections. Somewhere in Bangalore.
His loyalist and Chamrajpet MLA BZ Zamir Ahmed Khan, who is fielding him as the chief minister’s face for the next assembly elections, has made some differences within the party, even proposing to vacate the seat for the Congress legislature party leader. Siddaramaiah has already said that he will not contest from the Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in Mysore, where he tasted defeat in the 2018 assembly elections.
Responding to a question on contesting from Chamundeshwari constituency, he said, “I lost the last election in the constituency where my political rebirth took place. But that does not mean that I will forget the people of Chamundeshwari. They have won me five times and given me political strength at this level. “The then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lost to JD (S) GT Deve Gowda in Chamundeshwari by a margin of 36,042 votes in 2018. However, he won Badami, another constituency where he contested with only 1,696 votes. In the interval, BJP’s B defeated Sriramulu.
Debuting in the assembly in 1983, Siddaramaiah was elected from Chamundeshwari on a Lok Dal party ticket. He has won the seat five times and lost three times. Neighboring Varuna became a constituency after delimitation in 2008, Siddaramaiah represented it in the 2018 Assembly elections until the seat was vacated for his son Dr Jatindra (MLA) and he returned to his old constituency in Chamundeshwari.
Ahead of the May 2018 assembly elections, Siddaramaiah said it would “probably” be his last election. Earlier, during the 2013 assembly elections, he also said that it was his last election and he became the chief minister after the election.
Asked if he would ask the party to announce its chief ministerial post before the 2023 elections like in Punjab, Siddaramaiah said, “I would not want such a thing. I will follow the decision of the Congress High Command. “It is no secret that Siddaramaiah, who was the chief minister from 2013-2018, is pursuing his ambition for a second term if the party wins the next assembly elections. State Congress president DK Shivakumar has a similar aspiration. The one-up game between the two leaders has begun.
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