Karnataka Election 2023: Will Siddaramaiah find success in home turf Varuna? Here's all you need to know

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate V Srinivas Prasad won from Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha (MP) Seat by a margin of 1,817 votes by defeating R Dhruvanarayana of the Congress.

Team Newsable

First Published Apr 28, 2023, 1:14 PM IST

Varuna Assembly constituency is part of the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha seat. The constituency came into existence after the 2008 delimitation exercise. The constituency is in the news this election as former Karnataka CM and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah is contesting from this seat.

In 2018, Congress leader Yathindra S won the seat by defeating T Basavaraju of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a margin of 58,616 votes.

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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate V Srinivas Prasad won from Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha (MP) Seat by a margin of 1,817 votes by defeating R Dhruvanarayana of the Congress.

Key Candidates:
JD(S): Dr Bharathi Shankar
Congress: Siddaramaiah
BJP: V Somanna

It can be seen that Varuna Assembly constituncy is a stronghold of Congress, therefore, the former CM chose this seat to contest for the upcoming assembly polls. Addressing a gathering, Siddaramaiah said that he had successfully contested from Varuna in 2008 and 2013 and went on to become the Opposition leader and chief minister.

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Meanwhile, V Somanna, the seasoned BJP leader, who is contesting from two seats (Varuna and Chamarajanagar) finds it a balancing act to campaign in both constituencies. Shuttling between the two neighbouring seats, Somanna manages to travel across the constituency and covers 20 to 30 villages a day, meeting and greeting the residents with a smile and an appeal to vote for the BJP.

In the 2018 Karnataka elections, Siddaramaiah contested from two seats, Badami and Chamundeshwari. However, the Congress leader lost the Chamundeshwari seat.

Somanna has been attacking his opponent with an emotional card that also touches the hearts of the people — the power of Goddess Chamundeshwari. "Siddaramaiah was given a 'varaprasadam' (divine blessing) but he rejected it. We are sure that the lotus will bloom here beautifully," Somanna said.

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His opponent Siddaramaiah commands a lot of support in the seat, having been elected twice from his birthplace. Siddaramaiah has been trying to woo the voters in his favour as he pins his hopes on winning this seat one last time.

The Election Commission has announced that the voting for the Karnataka Election 2023 will be conducted on May 10 while the results will be declared on May 13. The winning party must have 113 seats to form the government in Karnataka out of 224 seats.

Last Updated Apr 28, 2023, 1:14 PM IST