Leader of Opposition in Karnataka assembly Siddaramaiah suggested that he would be contesting the upcoming election from the Varuna constituency Friday.
“People from 25 constituencies are asking. I can’t contest all these seats. People at my home have an opinion that I should contest from Varuna. So, I have asked them to see and clear Varuna (candidates’ list). There are requests for me to contest from other seats also. No decision has been made,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “…at home, they are saying that I should be contesting from one more constituency. Let’s see, I haven’t thought about it.”
The Congress legislature party leader, who is nursing chief ministerial ambitions in the event of the party coming to power, and has been looking for a “safe seat”, had announced in January that he would contest from Kolar, reportedly after conducting surveys.
He did say, however, that it would be subject to the approval of the party’s central leadership.
Last week, there were reports that the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, during the party’s central election committee meeting, advised Siddaramaiah not to contest from Kolar, which is said to be “risky” for him. Stating that the high command had left the decision to him and had asked him to be available for campaigning across the state ahead of the elections, he had said, “I will speak to my son and my wife and arrive at a decision.”
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah raked up a controversy on Friday after slapping a party worker in Bengaluru.
On Friday, the former chief minister allegedly slapped a man who was among supporters demanding election tickets for a party MLA.
The incident occurred in Bengaluru when the former chief minister was leaving his house and was surrounded by supporters of Harihar MLA S Ramappa.
In a video of the incident, which has since gone viral on social media, Siddaramaiah was seen being pushed by a crowd of supporters demanding election tickets for a party MLA when he stepped out of his house in Bengaluru. The video further showed that Siddaramaiah then slapped one of the supporters before leaving in his car. HT can verify the authenticity of the video.
Siddaramaiah’s office or the Congress party didn’t release any statements on the incident.
Earlier on Friday, Karnataka police detained Congress state president D K Shivakumar and other party leaders and workers who were protesting against the Surat court’s verdict against Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi surname’ case. Gandhi had made the alleged remarks about Modi’s surname at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A Surat court sentenced the Congress leader to two years in jail over his alleged remarks on ‘Modi surname’ during an election campaign in Kolar in 2019. “Their (BJP) party will collapse in Karnataka. It is on the verge of collapse. They are just trying to blackmail all leaders and contractors. We’re with people and people are with us. Their voice is our voice. We want to see Karnataka regain its glory,” said Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar.
(With PTI inputs)
