Congress leader Siddaramaiah clarifies he will contest Karnataka assembly polls from one constituency

There has been intense speculation for the last few days whether he would contest from two seats this time too

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday clarified that he will contest the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls from one constituency.

The former chief minister, who has openly announced that he is willing to contest from Kolar if the party leadership agrees, had in 2018 assembly polls contested from two seats - Chamundeshwari and Badami.

"Have I said I will contest from two constituencies? Who said that? I will be contesting from one constituency... I have made it very clear, I'm contesting from one constituency," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question by mediapersons.

Read | BJP looks to tweak 2018 math to upset Siddaramaiah's Ahinda applecart in Kolar

There has been intense speculation for the last few days, whether the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly, would contest from two seats this time too, like he did in the previous assembly election.

The speculation had gained momentum following the incident where a purported "divine wish" for Siddaramaiah to contest from two seats was supposedly expressed by a priest, who is said to have been possessed by Congress leader's family deity, during his MLA son Yathindra's temple visit to a temple in Mandya district recently.

Stating that the propaganda about him searching for a constituency like a "nomad" was media creation, Siddaramaiah said, "I have contested eight times from Chamundeshwari constituency and twice from neighbouring Varuna, after delimitation, as my native village had gone to Varuna. I again came back to Chamundeshwari in 2018 thinking that it will be my last election, but was defeated."

"As I had contested from Badami too (second seat) in 2018, I won from there. As Badami is far and won't be able to meet people of the constituency every day, I thought of contesting from the constituency nearer (to Bengaluru) this time. People of Kolar have invited me, I have said I will contest if the high command agrees," he added.

Ending all speculations, Siddaramaiah on January 9 announced that he will be contesting the assembly polls from Kolar constituency, if the party agrees.

Further hitting out at the BJP for its comments regarding his constituency shift and claims about his looking for a second seat, the Congress legislature party leader said, "If a candidate contests from one constituency only, is he or she a leader? If Narendra Modi contests from two seats he is a big leader, but Siddaramaiah cannot contest from two, such attitude shouldn't be there."

Meanwhile, state Congress president D K Shivakumar said Siddaramamaiah has clearly stated that he will contest from one constituency and has submitted one application, and the party will decide.

Regarding the candidates list announcement, he said already the process is on to shortlist the probable candidates. On February 2, the state election committee will meet in Bengaluru, Shivakumar added.