Siddaramaiah ends suspense: ‘Will contest Assembly poll from Kolar’

The Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly said many leaders and people from Kolar district had urged him to contest from the seat. “I cannot reject your love and affection. I have decided to be the candidate from Kolar constituency in the upcoming election. But this is subject to approval from the high command…. We have to follow procedure,” he said.

Siddaramaiah had dropped hints about his candidature during his earlier visit to Kolar in November last year. Addressing a cheering crowd of party supporters, he had said, “…you can clap when I visit Kolar to file nomination papers once the party consents.”

His inclination to contest from Kolar then had come under fire from Janata Dal (secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy, who had accused the Congress leader of resorting to caste calculus to ensure his victory in 2023. Kumaraswamy had said Siddaramaiah was looking to contest a seat where Kurubas — the community the Congress leader belongs to — are a majority.

Srinivas Gowda, Kolar’s sitting MLA from the JD(S) who switched sides to the Congress last year, is expected to vacate his seat for Siddaramaiah. Gowda was expelled from the JD(S) in June 2022 for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Since last year, there were indications that Siddaramaiah would not contest from his current constituency — Badami in Bagalkot district. The 75-year-old had cited his inability to visit the constituency frequently as the reason for him to forego the seat despite rumours about a rift within the Congress in the region about Siddaramaiah contesting again from Badami.

The Senior Congress leader had claimed that he had received offers from people of constituencies such as Hebbal, Varuna, Chamarajpet and others to contest. There were also signs of his possible return to Varuna constituency in Mysuru district, which he had vacated for his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah in 2018.