Siddaramaiah’s CM pitch boosts Congress

BENGALURU: The Congress is using a different strategy for 14 seats of North Karnataka going to the polls on Tuesday — making them Siddaramaiah centric.


The former chief minister during his campaign in South Karnataka had said he was no longer interested in electoral politics and wouldn’t contest the next elections. But in the North, he surprised voters, saying he’s the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress and would ensure the poor get 10kg rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme if back in power.

Congress leaders said this was part of a new strategy. “People of Karnataka have taken to Siddaramaiah as their leader after he won the assembly election from Badami last year. The party wants to leverage his leadership,” said B S Shivanna, KPCC general secretary and Siddaramaiah’s aide.

His projection as CM may give his party muchneeded traction across northern districts, particularly Koppal and Davanagere, where the party has fielded Kuruba candidates. Another reason is senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge has been tied down to his Kalaburagi constituency where he’s facing tough competition from Umesh Jadhav (BJP).

Siddaramaiah’s assertion has created a furore among leaders of both Congress and Janata Dal (S). He clarified he was talking about the scenario of the next assembly elections due in 2023.

BJP leaders jumped at the opportunity — they’re campaigning on the pitch that ‘one vote would decide two governments’, the Centre and state. Some leaders have even said that snap assembly polls are imminent in the state after the

Lok Sabha polls

.