Early stage talks are underway within the Congress to get Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah to contest the next general election from a ‘safe’ seat in Bengaluru.
Multiple sources confirmed to DH that Chamarajpet legislator BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan had offered to vacate the constituency for Siddaramaiah. The Chamarajpet segment has a sizable minority population.
However, no decision has been made, sources added.
Currently, Siddaramaiah represents the Badami constituency in north Karnataka’s Bagalkot district. He won this seat in 2018 with a narrow margin of 1,696 votes against the BJP’s B Sriramulu.
He had also contested from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru and lost badly, despite being an incumbent chief minister.“Contesting again from Badami or Chamundeshwari may not be safe for him,” a party leader aware of the discussion said.“Also, Siddaramaiah doesn’t want to return to his earlier Varuna constituency, which is currently represented by his son Yathindra.”
In the past, Siddaramaiah said that the 2018 election would be his last. However, a ‘safe’ seat will be necessary in the event that he is persuaded by the party to contest the next election, sources pointed out.