Siddaramaiah manages to consolidate his lost hold

Insiders of both Congress and JD(S) claim that former chief minister Siddaramaiah has managed to consolidate his position in the Mysuru region as the Lok Sabha (LS) poll canvassing came to an end on Thursday.

“Siddaramaiah lost face due to his humiliating defeat in the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency. Since then, he has been consolidating his position beginning with the mayoral and zilla panchayat elections. He was successful in bargaining both posts for the Congress,” party sources said.

Chamarajanagar

“In Chamarajanagar, district in-charge Minister C Puttarangashetty and MP R Dhruvanarayan (who is seeking re-election)are Siddaramaiah supporters. JD(S) does not have a strong leader in the district. Siddaramaiah has ensured that the coalition is fully equipped to take on V Srinivas Prasad (BJP candidate) in Chamarajanagar LS segment,” a leader from Gundlupet pointed out.

Mysuru

“In Mysuru, Congress candidate C H Vijayashankar (who was handpicked by Siddaramaiah) is taking on BJP MP Pratap Simha. Siddaramaiah is trying to take control of Mysuru by ensuring Vijayashankar’s victory. He managed to take along JD(S) ministers Sa Ra Mahesh and G T Devegowda for electioneering,” the local leader added. Mahesh campaigned in Mandya for coalition candidate Nikhil K. Siddaramaiah is also in touch with second and third buffer JD(S) leaders in Mysuru district (bypassing ministers),” said a JD(S) leader in Hinkal village.

Hassan

In Hassan, Siddaramaiah convinced Congress leaders and cadre to canvas for the coalition candidate Prajwal Revanna. Congress leaders and workers who were complaining of harassment by JD(S) leaders (especially PWD Minister H D Revanna and his sons Prajwal and Dr Suraj) were placated by Siddaramaiah when his intervention was sought. Revanna and his district MLAs are at Siddaramaiah’s mercy now,” claimed a Congress leader from Shravanabelagola.

Mandya

However, in Mandya, defeated MLAs N Chaluvaraswamy, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda and P M Narendraswamy-- all supporters of Siddaramaiah--are said to be working against coalition candidate K Nikhil. The three ex-MLAs openly say so. The six defeated Congress candidates of Mandya district favour Independent candidate A Sumalatha.

The Congress did not field its candidate in Melkote Assembly constituency because Darshan, son of the late MLA K S Puttanniah, was a Swaraj India Party nominee. Darshan openly supports Sumalatha.

Nikhil K, his mother Anitha and CM Kumaraswamy held talks with Siddaramaiah seeking his intervention. JD(S) leaders were made to seek Siddaramaiah’s favour. But Siddaramaiah has a different game plan for Mandya said his confidant.