Siddaramaiah confirms he will contest Karnataka assembly election from Kolar

Putting an end to all speculations, veteran Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah has announced that he will contest the forthcoming Karnataka assembly polls from the Kolar constituency. The 75-year-old leader, eyeing a 'safe seat', had been dropping hints about choosing Kolar, where he has held a series of meetings with party leaders.

"I have decided to contest the forthcoming assembly elections from Kolar," Siddaramaiah said at a public meeting in the district. Amid loud cheers from the crowd, he quickly added that the party's high command had to take the final decision on the matter.

Siddaramaiah, the Congress Legislature Party leader, had been under pressure from Congress leaders and workers from Kolar to contest from there. He had received similar requests from Hebbal, Koppal, Varuna, Badami and Chamrajpet constituencies.

Siddaramaiah has sparked off speculations about him contesting the 2023 assembly election from Kolar during his visit to the place in November. He had even issued a cryptic statement about returning to the constituency during the filing of the nomination.
 
Citing his inability to give more time to people and party workers of the constituency, Siddaramaiah, who represents the Badami segment in northern Karnataka's Bagalkote district, had indicated that he may not contest from there.

Srinivasa Gowda, Kolar's sitting MLA from JD-S who switched over to the Congress, had earlier indicated that he would not contest the election and wanted Siddaramaiah to contest.

Siddaramaiah had, in the past, announced that the 2023 assembly polls would be the last of his political career. To recall, the then-sitting chief minister had lost the 2018 polls in Chamundeshwari to JD-S candidate G T Deve Gowda by 36,042 votes. He, however, won Badami, the other constituency from where he had contested and defeated B Sriramulu (BJP) by 1,696 votes.
        
Congress functionaries are hoping that Siddaramaiah's decision to contest from Kolar would help the party's prospects not only in the district but also in the adjoining Chikkaballapura and Bengaluru Rural areas.

According to party sources, Kolar is a safe bet for Siddaramaiah as it will consolidate AHINDA -- Kannada acronym that stands for 'Alpasankhyataru' (minorities), 'Hindulidavaru' (Backward Classes) and 'Dalitaru' (Dalits) -- votes in his favour and Vokkaliga leaders of the party from the region also have pledged support to him.

They said Siddaramaiah's supporters have conducted surveys and concluded that the seat could ensure a comfortable win for the "Kuruba" leader. Kolar being close to Bengaluru city could make it easy for him to ensure his presence there often.