Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday responded to criticism over contesting in two constituencies by pointing out that Prime Minister Modi too did the same in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Siddaramaiah, who had earlier indicated that he will be contesting only from Chamundeshwari constituency, was confirmed as the Congress candidate from Badami on Saturday.
His decision to contest from two constituencies was termed as a sign of 'nervousness' by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
When asked whether this was the case in an interview with The Week, Siddaramaiah pointed out that Modi too contested from two constituencies."Then how did Modi contest from two constituencies? What is their answer to that? Was he afraid of the Gujarat parliamentary constituency? Why has he gone to Varanasi? They have no answer to this,” he said.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi contested from Vadodara in Gujarat and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. After winning in both constituencies, he decided to quit his Vadodara Lok Sabha seat and chose to retain Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP is considering fielding chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa from the constituency. Other names include MP B Sriramulu, an influential leader from Ballari, and PC Gaddigoudar.
Yeddyurappa has been confirmed as the BJP candidate from Shikaripura in Shivamogga and Sriramulu is currently the party's candidate from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga.
Siddaramaiah however dismissed any fears of facing Yeddyurappa and said he was confident in winning from the Badami. "Let him contest. I will come in. I need not spend any more time there. The people of Badami under the leadership of North Karnataka leaders there will take care of my constituency," he added.
He also said that he wanted to contest from only one constituency - Chamundeshwari - and that the decision to contest from Badami was due to pressure from leaders in North Karnataka.