It seems to be the end of hopes for loyalists of former chief minister Siddaramaiah in his Varuna and Chamundeshwari Assembly constituencies of Mysuru district.
The extension of hereditary politics, with Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yathindra already a Varuna MLA and the introduction of grandson Dhavan Rakesh to the political process on April 18, means that both the segments would be reserved for the family, even if Siddaramaiah retires during the next Assembly poll, probably 2028.
Siddaramaiah’s announcement
“This is my last election. After that Yathindra and Dhavan will continue contesting elections. Dhavan is still 17 years old. He has to be 25-year-old, to contest elections. He will contest elections after completing his education. Your affection for Dhavan reminds me of the love and affection shown to his father, the late Rakesh," said Siddaramaiah in Nanjangud on April 19, before filing his nomination paper for the Assembly poll from Varuna.
Siddaramaiah faced eight elections from Chamundeshwari and won in 1983, 1985, 1994, 2004, and 2006. He lost in 1989, 1999, and 2018.
Career graph
In the 2008 and 2013 elections, he won the newly-formed Varuna constituency and Badami in 2018. The 2006 bypolls was a tough one, against Shivabasappa of the JD(S), supported by the BJP. He won with a slender margin of 257 votes. He contested in Chamundeshwari and Badami in 2018, allowing his son Dr Yathindra to contest Varuna.
As per sources close to Siddaramaiah, he wanted to block Varuna for Dr Yathindra, by contesting from two segments Varuna and Kolar. “His plan was to win both segments, so that he could retain Kolar and facilitate a bypoll in Varuna, so that Dr Yathindra could contest from there. He wanted to secure the political future of Dr Yathindra and thus all his efforts revolved around it. With the Congress restricting his contest to Varuna and Dhavan giving an entry, Siddaramaiah is compelled to reserve two constituencies for them,” said sources.
Safer segment
“He was not confident of contesting from Chamundeshwari. Otherwise he would have chosen Varna and Chamundeshwari,” sources said.
Siddaramaiah was trounced by a huge margin of 36,042 votes in Chamundeshwari by G T Devegowda of the JD(S). Siddaramaiah planned to bring Devegowda to the Congress fold. But, JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda convinced Devegowda to stay back in the JD(S). Now Devegowda is JD(S) candidate in Chamundeshwari. Mavinahalli Siddegowda, who rebelled against Devegowda staying back in the JD(S), is the Congress candidate.
Blow to Siddaramaiah
Rakesh, Siddaramaiah’s elder son, died on July 30, 2016, at Brussels in Belgium, under suspicious circumstances. Rakesh had picked up the ropes of politics and had nurtured Chamundeshwari as his area of operation. Besides, he was managing the affairs of his father’s Varuna constituency, since he became CM in 2013.
“Rakesh’s death was a blow to Siddaramaiah. Thus, he brought Dr Yathindra into politics. When, a challenge was posed in the form of a possible contest by former CM B S Yediyurappa’s younger son B Y Vijendra, the problem was solved tactfully, to ensure Dr Yathindra’s victory,” recalls a source close to Siddaramaiah.
Entry of progeny
“The second line of leaders of Chamundeshwari saw an opportunity when Rakesh died. But, with Siddaramaiah bringing in Dr Yathindra and engaging both segments in 2018, they took a backstage. When Siddaramaiah decalred that this wold be his last election, the second line leaders saw an opportunity again in Chamundeshwari. But, now Dhavan has arrived,” said Congress leaders of the region.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee secretaries Varuna Mahesh and Gurupadaswamy, and former president of Zilla Panchayat (ZP) S C Basavaraju were aspirants from Varuna, but they did not apply for the Congress ticket as Siddaramaiah was slated to contest.
Similarly, former presidents of ZP K Marigowda and Koorgalli Mahadev, and present candidate Siddegowda and his accomplice from the JD(S) Beerihundi Basavanna are the aspirants from Chamundeshwari.