Atmosphere in favour of Congress, says Siddaramaiah

With the Congress winning two of the four Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies that went to polls earlier this week, Karnataka Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said Thursday that the “atmosphere” is in his party’s favour.

“The results clearly show that people want a change,” Siddaramaiah told reporters. “I won’t call it an indicator for the next election. But, the atmosphere is in the Congress’ favour. The Congress will win the 2023 Assembly election 100 per cent,” he said.

According to the Congress leader, people are “suffering” from price rise, unemployment, economy gone astray and issues concerning farms, women and youth. “People have never accepted the BJP's communalism, politics of religion and vendetta, and moves that are anti-democracy and anti-constitution,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said the real gainer in the teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies is the Congress. “The Congress was zero as the BJP had two seats and JD(S) two. Now, the Congress has won two. Also, Basavaraj Horatti’s win isn’t the BJP’s win. It’s the victory of Horatti due to his personal charisma. Plus, our candidate Prakash Hukkeri defeated two-time BJP MLC Arun Shahapur,” he argued.

Undecided on constituency

Asked where he would contest from in the 2023 Assembly election, Siddaramaiah said he has calls from at least half-a-dozen segments. “I haven’t decided yet. I have calls from Kolar, Koppal, Hebbal, Hunsur, Chamarajanagar, Varuna and Chamarajpet,” he said.

“I have so many calls because I can win. If I’ll lose, why will they call me?” he asked, responding to BJP’s criticism that the former chief minister is searching for a “safe” seat.

Siddaramaiah also said that there is no one in the Congress who is jealous of him or wants him to lose. Further, he claimed that JD(S) and BJP leaders are in touch with him. “I can’t reveal their names now,” he said.