Voters will decide my fate, not Kumaraswamy, asserts Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said that voters in the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency would decide his fate in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Siddaramaiah launched his five-day campaign from Lingambudipalya, accompanied by minister H C Mahadevappa and M P Dhruva Narayana.

He came down heavily on the state JD (S) president H D Kumaraswamy and said: "Kumaraswamy doesn't have Chamundeshwari votes in his pocket to repeatedly claim that I would be defeated despite repeated and intense," Siddaramaiah added.

The chief minister said that Kumaraswamy had campaigned against him in the 2006 Assembly constituency, but he went on to win.

"The 2006 result will be repeated in 2018," Siddaramaiah expressed confidence.

"In a democratic country, nobody should make such statements. Wasn't he defeated when he contested against former chief minister M Veerappa Moily?" the chief minister sought to know.

Siddaramaiah claimed that he had never stated that he would contest from Badami Assembly constituency.

"I will enter the fray only from Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency and will file nomination papers on April 20," he told reporters.

Siddaramaiah was accompanied by minister H C Mahadevappa and M P Dhruva Narayana.