Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah swept aside his opposition in the Varuna constituency by winning with a comfortable margin of over 26,000 votes. BJP candidate V Somanna, a former minister, trailed behind with 42,928 votes. As of 1.30 pm on May 13, Siddaramaiah had secured 60.05% of the total votes, according to the Election Commission of India.
Varuna has 2.34 lakh voters, and recorded an 84.74% voting percentage. The constituency, which is considered to be Siddaraiamaiah’s bastion, was formed after the delimitation process in 2008. Siddaramaiah won from the constituency in 2008 and 2013, and his son Yathindra won in 2018.
Earlier this year, Siddaramaiah had openly expressed his willingness to contest from the Kolar constituency, but the Congress high command rejected the idea and eventually, Siddaramaiah decided to contest only from Varuna. His son, sitting MLA Yathindra, chose not to contest this time.
The BJP also decided to field V Somanna, a senior leader of the party from the Lingayat community. Varuna is said to have a majority of Lingayat votes. With both leaders holding high-decibel campaigns, Siddaramaiah’s win this time around was expected to be tough.
The constituency, dominated by Lingayats, Schedule Caste groups and Kurubas has been a stronghold for Siddaramaiah, who has built his support on the AHINDA (an acronym for Alpasankhyataru or minorities, Hindulidavaru or backward classes and Dalitaru or Dalits) movement.
In the run-up to the elections, Siddaramaiah was embroiled in many controversies. As the BJP’s alleged sidelining of Lingayats became an election issue, Siddaramaiah was slammed for his statement about the community. Asked whether the next CM would be a Lingayat, he responded that there was already a Lingayat CM who was the root of all corruption, referring to incumbent CM Basavaraj Bommai. The BJP called Siddaramaiah out on it and alleged that he had insulted the entire Lingayat community. Siddaramaiah has to issue a clarification saying that his comment was directed only towards CM Bommai and not the entire community. But the general feeling about him being anti-Lingayat seems to have prevailed.
Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar also went to great lengths to present a unified front. A day before polling on May 10, a letter purportedly written by Siddaramaiah to former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, complaining about Shivakumar, started doing the rounds. Both the leaders were quick to declare the letter as fake.
Even before that, it was Siddaramaiah who bore the brunt of the BJP’s allegations of an anti-Hindu agenda in Congress. This was in response to one of the promises made in the Congress manifesto, saying firm action would be taken against organisations that disturbed peace and harmony, which could include imposing a ban. The manifesto named the Bajrang Dal and the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) as examples of organisations promoting enmity or hatred. This triggered strong protests from BJP and other quarters, but Siddaramaiah stood by the stance.
Despite travelling all over the state for campaigning, Siddaramaiah also managed to spend a considerable amount of time in Varuna, holding road shows, rallies and meetings. Actors Shiva Rajkumar and Ramya also campaigned for him.
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