Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah, son of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, said on Tuesday that he will contest the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly polls from the Varuna constituency, if given a ticket.
“If the party gives me a ticket I will contest. Ultimately it is the decision of the party,” Yathindra told media persons in Mandya.
Yathindra has been extensively involved in campaigning in Mandya district, and is looking for a chance to test his political fortunes from the constituency his father won in the 2008 and 2013 polls.
The Delimitation Commission had formed the Varuna constituency in 2007 after dissolving the Bannur constituency. Several parts of the erstwhile Bannur constituency are now part of Varuna, along with some areas of Mysore taluk (earlier with Chamundeshwari), Nanjangud taluk and T Narsipur taluk. The Varuna constituency has over two lakh voters.
Siddaramaiah meanwhile is likely to contest from Chamundeshwari, the constituency in which he began his electoral career by winning as an independent candidate in 1983. In 2006, he had recorded a hard-fought win in this constituency, before switching to Varuna following the Election Commission’s delimitation process in 2007.
In October, the Chief Minister publicly announced that he will be contesting from Chamundeshwari again in 2018. “I want my last election to be from here, to make Chamundeshwari a model constituency to repay you,” he was quoted as saying in Deccan Chronicle.
On Tuesday, Yathindra also confirmed Siddaramaiah’s plans for the coming election. “I have already worked in the villages in Varuna constituency and this is the CM’s last election. He started out in politics in Chamundeshwari constituency and he feels a debt to people there,” Yathindra said.
Yathindra also rubbished the statement of GT Devegowda, the current JD (S) MLA from Chamundeshwari, that Siddaramaiah had lost touch with the voters there and would not risk contesting from the constituency.
“The CM is under no confusion. He wishes to contest from the Chamundeshwari constituency and I am in Varuna as his representative. No one in Varuna has any objection to me. The party will welcome my arrival there,” Yathindra said.