2023 state polls to be my last: Siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah comments came after Yediyurappa alleged that the leaders of the Congress party are fighting for chief ministerial candidature

Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said on Sunday that the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections will be his last but will continue to support the Congress party even after retirement.

Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on January 25. He said he will continue to support Congress after retirement. (PTI)

Addressing a public meeting during Congress’s ‘Praja Dhwani Yatra’ in Bidar on Sunday, Siddaramaiah said, “This is the last time I will be contesting. But I will not retire from politics. Politically, I’m providing all support now. I will continue to do so in the future.”

“I got an opportunity to be the chief minister of Karnataka once from 2013-2018, for five years, with the blessings of the people of the state. Devaraj Urs was a chief minister who served for five years. After him, I was the only chief minister to serve for full five years,” Siddaramaiah added.

Last year, Siddaramaiah had said that the 2023 Assembly elections would be his last and that he would not be contesting from the Chamundeshwari segment, where he had faced defeat in 2018. The Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly had also announced that he would not be accepting any position, including that of Rajya Sabha, after the term of the next assembly.

As the then-sitting chief minister, he lost the 2018 polls in Chamundeshwari to JD(S) candidate GT Deve Gowda by 36,042 votes. Making his debut in the assembly in 1983, Siddaramaiah was elected from Chamundeshwari on a Lok Dal Party ticket. He has won five times from this constituency and was defeated thrice.

After neighbouring Varuna became a constituency in 2008 following delimitation, Siddaramaiah represented it, till he vacated the seat for his son Dr Yathindra (now MLA), during the 2018 assembly polls and went back to his old constituency of Chamundeshwari.

Earlier this month, the senior Congress leader put all speculation to rest and announced that he would contest elections from the Kolar district. He, however, said that the decision will be subjected to the approval of high command.

“Today, among the people of Kolar, I would like to announce that Kolar is going to be the place for my election battle,” he said.

Siddaramaiah had earlier ruled out any chance of contesting from Badami - the seat he won in the 2018 polls. Speaking to reporters earlier, Siddaramaiah had said, “Badami is too far from here, and I have no intention of contesting from there once again. There are good leaders in Badami who can look after the people of Badami.”

He had won Badami, defeating BJP’s B Sriramulu by 1,696 votes.

On Sunday, responding to a question that many in the Congress party are dreaming of the chief ministerial post, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that the party would come to power and said, “No one in our party is dreaming. I have told the actual truth that our party will come to power this time.”

He also claimed that the BJP government in the state has become a burden to the people. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he said, “BJP doesn’t trust their own Yediyurappa, and that was the reason why he was removed from the CM post. The people of Karnataka are not ready to trust him again and give a chance to the BJP. I can see the public waiting for elections, only to remove the corrupt party from power.”

Siddaramaiah comments came after Yediyurappa alleged that the leaders of the Congress party are fighting for chief ministerial candidature. Addressing the party members in the capital city, Yediyurappa said, “Congress doesn’t have a strong leader, and it only has leaders who internally fight for CM post. We will win more than 130 seats and we should focus on SC/ST or backward classes mohalla, understand the issues and make honest efforts to resolve them. We should also inform people about schemes that our government has been implementing.”