BJP slams Siddaramaiah for contesting from Badami

BJP on Monday criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s decision to contest from Badami in the upcoming elections.

From their Twitter handle @BJP4Karnataka, they tweeted, “Siddaramaiah has accepted defeat even before the war has begun. By contesting from Badami he has proved two things:
1. He has no confidence in winning from his own hometown.
2. By choosing a Kuruba dominant constituency, he showed he is no more than a 'one caste' leader.

The BJP said that the chief minister is a self-proclaimed AHINDA leader but did not consider minority-dominated seats likeMangaluru, Gulbarga North or OBC dominant seats like Afzalpur or Gurmitkal for his second candidature. “By Badami, you have proved your appeal is at most limited to one caste,” the party said.

The BJP brought up the Lingayat issue as well. “Mr CM, when you recommended separate religion for Lingayats, you claimed to have their full backing!” another tweet said. “In that case, why did you not choose a Lingayat dominant AC? Or have you already realised that the move has backfired? A leader must look to win hearts, Mr CM, not vote banks.”

The tweets went on to claim that Siddaramaiah’s decision to contest from Badami is because of his fear of imminent defeat in Chamundeshwari. “You all may deny, but everyone knows how paranoid you are of Parameshwar and DK Shi sabotaging your 'last' chance,” said the tweet.

The BJP didn’t stop there. The party mentioned a mutiny inside the Congress party, saying, “Looks like the cold war between Parameshwar-DK Shi Vs Siddu has only intensified as one conspires to pull down the other! Siddu broke unity in society. Karma seems to be catching up.”

Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily responded to the tweets at a party meeting saying, "CM will win both Chamundeshwariand Badami easily by big margins. Him contesting from North Karnataka is a shot in the arm for our party in the region."