Clamour grows to give Siddaramaiah a ticket from Savadatti-Yallamma seat

Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in the constituency, the Congress leaders said a rebel leader from the party contested the seat in the last election and divided the votes. Both Congress and rebel candidate votes combined, the party has a larger vote share, said the leaders

Despite his saying that he would like to contest the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections from the Kolar constituency, Siddaramaiah’s name has been suggested from the Savadatti-Yallamma constituency in Belagavi district, said leaders familiar with the development on Saturday.

Despite his saying that he would like to contest the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections from the Kolar constituency, Siddaramaiah’s name has been suggested from the Savadatti-Yallamma constituency in Belagavi district. (HT Archives)

While the party is yet to announce the candidates, Siddaramaiah’s close associate, H M Revanna, applied for the constituency in Siddaramaiah’s name, the leaders added.

The leaders further said Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president Satish Jarkiholi, part of the ‘Siddaramaiah think tank’, has been visiting the constituency and holding meetings with the local leaders.

Based on these interactions, the constituency has been suggested as a safe seat for Siddaramaiah, they added.

A leader from the Jarkiholi camp, representing Yamakanamaradi seat, said Jarkoholi has been in touch with leaders from the constituency for over a year and briefed the necessity of Siddaramaiah there.

“The leaders aspired to contest the election excited about Siddaramaiah contesting from their constituency and unanimously agreed to work for his victory,” the leader said.

Vishwas Vaidya, Panchangoudru Sangangoudar and Ajay Chopra, the son of the late Anand Chopra, who aspired to contest, have agreed to give up their contest for Siddaramaiah.

Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in the constituency, the Congress leaders said a rebel leader from the party contested the seat in the last election and divided the votes. Both Congress and rebel candidate votes combined, the party has a larger vote share, said the leaders.

In 2008, Congress’s official candidate and rebel candidate secured 55,450, while BJP’s Vishwanath Mamani won with 48,255 votes. However, in 2013, BJP’s Anand Mamani retained the seat by securing 62,480 whereas Congress official candidate Ravindra Yaligar received 30,392, and Anand Chopra contested as a rebel and got 29,391 votes.

“Savadatti constituency was the strong fort of our party. However, though we got the highest votes, we lost due to divided votes due to multiple contests. Now, for Siddaramaiah, we forgot our difference of opinion and joined hands to defeat BJP,” district Congress committee president Vinay Navalgatti said.

“Now Anand Chopra is no more. Vishwas Vaidya and Panchangoudru Sangangoudar are in Congress. Late Anand Chopra’s son Ajay is also in Congress. It’s a cakewalk victory for Congress if the votes of the trio are unified, for which were feel the constituency is safe for Congress and reserved for Siddaramaiah. Congress would with the margin of more than 50,000 votes if Siddaramaiah contests from the constituency,” a leader close to Satish Jarkiholi said.

Siddaramaiah trusts Jarkiholi and is expected to contest from both Kolar and Savadatti constituencies as the latter has taken his victory responsibility, the leaders said.

However, the district Congress committee was tight-lipped on the matter as it seemed to keep secret till the last day of filing the candidature of their leader. On condition of anonymity, a senior leader said, “We have pledged for the victory of our leader Siddaramaiah even if BJP field its state and national level bigwigs against him in Belagavi.”