Congress workers urge Siddaramaiah to contest from Badami in north Karnataka

Bengaluru: Amid reports of a tough battle in Chamundeshwari segment chosen by him, a delegation of Congress workers from northern Karnataka on Thursday met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and urged him to contest the 12 May Assembly polls from Badami in their region. Responding to the workers, who met him here under the leadership of state Congress Working President SR Patil and sitting MLA Chimmanakalti, the chief minister said he would convey to the party high command their demand, Congress sources said. The workers and leaders are said to have tried to convince Siddaramaiah to contest from Badami in Bagalkote, stating that it would help party’s prospects in the north Karnataka region. [caption id=“attachment_4423771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Siddaramaiah. Getty Images[/caption] Badami is dominated by the Kuruba community to which Siddaramaiah belongs. According to party sources, Siddaramaiah has assured them that he will put forward their demand and opinion before the Congress high command. The chief minister has already declared that he would contest the assembly polls from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru in south Karnataka. Speculations are rife for some time now that Siddaramaiah is looking for another constituency amid reports it will not be an easy battle for him in Chamundeshwari. Siddaramaiah, who represents Varuna in Mysuru after it became a constituency in 2008 following delimitation, has expressed intentions to contest from Chamundeshwari that gave him “political birth”. Making his debut in the Assembly in 1983, he got elected from Chamundeshwari on a Lok Dal Party ticket,  from where he has won five times and tasted defeat twice. Congress is expected to announce its candidates for all the 224 seats in one go, in a day or two. BJP, which is going all out to unseat the Congress, has already announced its first list of 72 candidates.