Karnataka   

Siddaramaiah confident of winning from Varuna

Siddaramaiah

MYSORE: The last date for filing of nominations for the first phase of elections to be held on May 10 saw the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah filing his papers on Wednesday.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who filed his papers at the Nanjangud Taluk Panchayat office, expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious as he was not new to Varuna constituency. The Assembly segment, which has 1,88,717 voters, was carved out during the recent delimitation exercise.

Addressing presspersons, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that people were aware of his contribution to the development of the region.

He claimed credit for works such as Varuna canal, Badanwal lift irrigation project and Kavalande drinking water project. “People here know my contribution ever since I entered the political field in 1983,” he added.

He refused to underestimate his political rivals and said anyone contesting the elections had to be taken seriously. On the issues that would dominate the elections, Mr. Siddaramaiah referred to former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s coalition Government and described it as among the most corrupt in the history of the State.

Taking a dig at Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda for his reported statements that his party would defeat him, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the voters were intelligent enough to see through the game plan of Mr. Deve Gowda and “they were not in his pockets”.

Mr. Siddaramaiah refused to comment on the latest development in the Janata Dal (S) camp where Mr. Deve Gowda loyalist D.T. Jayakumar was snubbed and refused party ticket following which he parted ways with his mentors. “I will not comment on the developments pertaining to other parties and leaders,” he said.

Asked if the Congress would welcome Mr. Jayakumar, Mr. Siddaramaiah said there were party leaders and an ideology and those who espoused faith in them were welcome.

This is the first time in his political career that Mr. Siddaramaiah has changed his constituency.

He was elected five times from the Chamundeshwari constituency, and made his foray into State politics when he contested as an Independent candidate in 1983 and won.

He was elected again in 1985 when he was in the Janata Party and lost to M. Rajashekar Murthy in 1989, only to bounce back in 1994.

He again lost in 1999 to A.S. Guruswamy of the Congress, but emerged victorious in 2004 by defeating L. Revannasiddaiah of the Congress.

He quit the Janata Dal (S) and joined the Congress and won by a narrow margin in the byelection to the Assembly from Chamundeshwari constituency in December 2006.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pharmacy credit card launched
To spread culture
Supporters of Sirwal go on rampage over denial of ticket
Congress workers ransack party office
Pinning hopes
Protest
IIPM convocation today
Nothing illegal about transport of cash: Axis Bank
Seminar on problems of credit card holders
Siddaramaiah confident of winning from Varuna
‘Treat books as social tool’
Thermal power project will affect environment: samiti
98 papers received in Chamarajanagar

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu