Former Karnataka chief minister and Badami MLA Siddaramaiah might be hoping for a second stint as the chief minister if the Congress party wrests power in the 2023 assembly elections in Karnataka. However, before the crucial electoral battle, Siddaramaiah will need to overcome another big challenge—of finding himself a "winning" seat.
The Kuruba strongman is today facing stiff resistance from his own partymen, who are opposed to his contesting from Badami.
On Monday, during the Congress's election campaign at Badami for the December 10 MLC polls, former minister B.B. Chimmanakatti, who previously held the Badami seat and gave it up for Siddaramaiah in 2018, declared that Siddaramaiah was not welcome to contest the next elections from Badami.
"When I vacated the seat for Siddaramaiah, he had promised me an MLC seat. But he did not keep the word. Siddaramaiah should have contested from Varuna as he would have won. Why did he contest from Chamundeshwari? He shifted to Badami at my cost. I made the sacrifice for the party. But he wants to again contest from here. Now, I will be left with no constituency. Let him contest from Varuna in the upcoming elections," said Chimmanakatti, who was elected from Badami five times—1978, 1983, 1994, 1999 and 2013.
The disgruntled leader lamented before his supporters, saying, "I was a tiger but today, I have been reduced to a mouse."
Chimmankatti's statement caused huge embarrassment to the party and also Siddaramaiah who was sharing the dais with the disgruntled leader.
Incidentally, Chimmankatti had won the Badami seat by a margin of 15,113 votes in 2013. In the subsequent election, Siddaramaiah won the seat by only 1,699 votes.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the then chief minister Siddaramaiah wanted to play it safe and contested from two seats - Chamundeshwari (Mysuru district) and Badami (Bagalkote district), as both have a sizeable population of Kuruba voters. But he suffered a humiliating defeat in Chamundeshwari against JD(S) candidate G. T. Devegowda. In Badami, he won the seat by only a narrow margin of 1,699 votes against BJP's B. Srimulu. In fact, Siddaramaiah had shifted out of his own (Varuna) constituency to the neighbouring Chamundeshwari to pave the way for his doctor-son Yathindra's debut in politics.
Last time, the shocking defeat in Chamundeshwari jolted Siddaramaiah. This time, the resistance from local leaders is a cause for concern. The Ahinda leader, who has always mocked at "dynastic politics" of the JD(S) and the H.D. Deve Gowda family is now at the receiving end as his son is a first-time MLA from Varuna. It remains to be seen if Siddaramaiah will revert to his old constituency Varuna or look for greener pastures beyond both Mysuru and Badami.
Meanwhile, the BJP seized the opportunity to mock at Siddaramaiah's precarious position.
RDPR Minister K. S. Eshwarappa, a prominent Kuruba face in the BJP, claimed that the community had "rejected" Siddaramaiah, which was evident from his defeat in Chamundeshwari and unenvious win in Badami. "Siddaramaiah is left with only Muslim voters to back him. That is the reason why he is pleading with Chamrajpet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan to vacate his seat for him. Siddaramaiah will contest from Chamrajpet," claimed Eshwarappa.
