There was speculation that BJP veteran BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra, who will be making his debut in electoral politics this time, will be contesting against Siddaramaiah from Varuna. But that is not likely to happen as Vijayendra is expected to contest from his father’s seat in Shikaripura; and the BJP high command has made it clear that every candidate will get only one ticket or seat to contest.
Fighting an election is no less than a game of chess and Siddaramaiah wants to ensure he makes all the right moves and traps the BJP in a checkmate. In 2018, too, he contested from two seats – Chamundeshwari and Badami.
In the previous assembly elections, the 75-year-old Congress veteran’s win from Badami was a tough one by a narrow margin of 1,696 votes. But he ended up losing Chamundeshwari by over 36,000 votes to one-time friend and JD(S) leader GT Devegowda, whose win was termed ‘David taking on Goliath’.
Back in 2018, a visibly upset Siddaramaiah had told News18 that though the people of Chamundeshwari showered him with love, it was “just not enough”. He had even pointed out that he won from this seat five times, but had also faced defeat thrice.
“I will not contest from Chamundeshwari again,” he had said at the time.
The 2008 delimitation process was also another cause for Siddaramaiah’s loss in Chamundeshwari. In that process, the Chamundeshwari constituency was split into two seats – Varuna and Chamundeshwari. This caused the caste balance in the constituencies to go haywire, with a large number of Kurubas – the OBC community that Siddaramaiah belongs to – being concentrated in Varuna and a strong concentration of Vokkaligas in Chamundeshwari. The Vokkaliga community is a substantial vote bank of the JD(S), which is how GT Devegowda won the seat comfortably.
An internal survey conducted by the private political strategist of the Congress, Sunil Kanugolu, had thrown up worrisome results in terms of Siddaramaiah’s choice to contest from Kolar. The leader not only faced a major threat from BJP’s Varthur Prakash, a former close aide of Siddaramaiah’s, but also the complex caste equations in the region that could make the contest a dicey one.
This was communicated to the Congress leadership and it has been learned that senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, reportedly advised him not to contest from Kolar. So this time round, Siddaramaiah has decided to be true to the land of his birth, Varuna, to help him get elected one last time.
Several leaders in the state Congress also feel that contesting from two seats was a safer option than to gamble on a single chance, especially at a time when he has announced that he will be retiring from active electoral politics after this election.
Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra is the incumbent MLA from Varuna. This time, Yathindra had requested the party and his father that he will not be fighting the elections and, on multiple occasions on public platforms, requested his father to contest from Varuna.
“The party workers in Kolar have been requesting Siddaramaiah ji to contest from Kolar as well. Apart from the fact that he is a leader loved across the state, he also has a special place in the hearts of the people of Kolar. The information that we know is that he may contest from Varuna and Kolar,” said a Congress leader, who did not want to be named.
Until recently, Siddaramaiah had set his sights on contesting from Kolar, 70 km from Bengaluru, but several internal surveys conducted by the Congress showed that the leader could be up against a tough opponent in Kolar. The Congress has also managed to iron out differences between the senior leader and former Kolar MP KH Muniyappa.
Muniyappa is a seven-time Congress MP from the Lok Sabha seat, who lost the previous election. He has been quite upset with Siddaramaiah for having tried to sideline him and his supporters, and try and place his loyalists in Kolar.
Muniyappa had initially expressed discomfort with the idea of Siddaramaiah’s contesting from Kolar. “KH Muniyappa is also on board and the differences have been sorted out. But there could be a split in votes due to the interference brought in by some leaders from rival parties,” said another senior Congress leader.
Political analyst Sandeep Shastri believes that Siddaramaiah saying he wished to contest from Kolar as well showed that the Congressman did not want to step back from a commitment he made.
“I believe that a lot of groundwork had happened there. Once it was known that he was going to contest from Varuna, his home constituency, there was a lot of consternation among Congress workers in Kolar. The caste calculus in Kolar district is what the Congress is hoping to cash in on and by bringing Siddramaiah there, the party was hoping to strengthen the caste equation. I think that factor is also in play,” Shastri told News18.
Shastri also pointed out that by choosing to contest from two seats, Siddaramaiah had given the opposition a handle to say that the leader of the opposition was not sure about where he will win and so is contesting from two seats.
“Siddaramaiah’s logic, as I see it, is hoping for some traction in Kolar. The counter regiment put forth by the Congress will also be that senior BJP leaders have also done this at the state and national level, so why not Siddaramaiah?” he added.
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