Siddaramaiah silences Kumaraswamy; says will contest from Chamundeshwari

Janata Dal (Secular)‘s CM face state President HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday dared Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to contest the upcoming May 12 assembly election from Chamundeshwari seat in Mysuru. Kumaraswamy received an emphatic reply from Siddaramaiah on Thursday, who said he would not only contest from Chamundeshwari, but win. "I have full faith and belief in my voters. They will not listen to him (Kumaraswamy) or will they let me down.” Then Siddaramaiah added, “If [Kumaraswamy] has guts, let him also contest from here. Will see whom the people will elect," he said.

Kumaraswamy was left with no retort beyond a weak promise to return to Chamundeshwari after the poll results to give his reaction to the "defeat" of Siddaramaiah.

Veteran politician Siddaramaiah has won five times from Varuna seat in Mysuru district since 1983, which he currently represents in the Karnataka assembly. The Chief Minister plans to field his eldest son Yatindra from Varuna, which is also his home town, if he contests from Chamundeshwari.

A blog post by Siddaramaiah on Thursday made clear he is going to fight state-wide on a strong plank of Karnataka pride, in addition to pushing his development works and various ‘Bhagya’ welfare schemes. “The Nava Karnataka we build together is one where the Kannada language has primacy, where the Kannada Dhwaja will stand tall and proud, and where Karnataka makes India proud,” said Siddaramaiah.

With IANS inputs.