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Siddaramaiah Sticks To Varuna, But Congress Leaves Kolar And Badami Open In First List

The former CM will contest from Varuna. But Congress holds back from announcing names for Badami, which he represents, and Kolar.

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.
Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.

Ending weeks of speculation, former Chief Minster Siddaramiah’s name was announced as the candidate from the Varuna constituency in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka as part of the Congress’s first list of 124 candidates for the 224 assembly seats in the State.

The list includes State Congress President DK Shivakumar from his Kanakapura constituency, former ministers Priyank Kharge from Chitapur in Hyderabad Karnataka, Dinesh Gundurao from Gandhi Nagar and Krishna Byre Gowda from Bayatrayanpura in Bengaluru and most big-ticket Congress leaders in their traditional seats. Another key candidate is former union minister and seven-time Member of Parliament KH Muniappa.

Ultimately, the choices in the first list are straight-forward and clear. The question it leaves open though are candidates for Badami, which Siddaramaiah won in 2018 and Kolar, where he wanted to contest from this time. Could he be eyeing a second seat?

Varuna is a Siddaramaiah family bastion represented in the outgoing assembly by his son Yathindra – Siddaramaiah had won from here in 2008 and 2013 – and the party leadership is believed to be clear that only one seat will be allotted to one candidate.

A second seat for any candidate seems unlikely as it could lead to a hard push back from the rest. Given that Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra will stay out of the fray after vacating Varuna, there is speculation that the former chief minister may ask for a second seat in the end.

Congress President DK Shivakumar has said the second list will be announced in “four to five days” and this would be key aspect to look out for. The longer they leave Kolar and Badami open, the more the speculation is likely to grow.

There are only eight seats amongst those won by the Congress, held in the outgoing assembly for which candidates have not been announced or changed. That includes Siddaramaiah’s Badami and his son’s Varuna seat. Candidate for nine of the 17 seats which were held by Congress and JD(S) candidates who switched over to the BJP in 2019 have been declared.

The big challenge now for the Congress will be in finalising candidates for the remaining 100 seats as these are closely contested seats and largely those held by the BJP and JD(S) now. The party will also have to balance the rival factions within in these seats and that is a herculean task. In fact, many observers believe that the results of this closely fought election will hinge on candidate selection.

Apart from the key candidates the Congress list is a mix of young and old, with multiple castes. There are 28 Lingayat candidates, 22 Vokkaliga candidates, 10 SC and 10 ST candidates amongst the 124. There are also two pairs of father and son and two pairs father and daughter duos who have been given tickets. As many as 44 of the candidates are over 60 years of age and 22 are below the age of 50 and just one candidate is less than 30.