Karnataka Election Result: Siddaramaiah defeats BJP's Somanna, wins on home turf by whopping margin

The Congress leader defeated BJP's V Somanna by a margin of 46,163 votes

Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah is all set to win by a huge margin in Varuna, his home constituency. Now, the question is, whether he will become chief minister for a second term or not.

The contest seemed to be a tough fight as BJP candidate and Housing Minister V Somanna had the active and visible support of BJP bigwigs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Yelachagere Bore village of Nanjangud taluk on May 7 was part of the outreach to the Varuna constituency segment. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also campaigned in Nanjangud on May 2.

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Retired political science professor J Somashekar says Siddaramaiah’s personality, commitment and leadership helped him win the poll in Varuna. “He made inclusive politics more visible with this victory,” he explains.

The challenge posed by the BJP had come in the form of an outsider playing the caste card. With the victory of Siddaramaiah, Varuna has been within his family since its formation in 2008. He was elected in 2008, 2013 and 2023, while his son Dr Yathindra won the last election in 2018.

Siddaramaiah spent four days initially – April 18 to 20 – campaigning in the constituency. He also campaigned for Congress candidates in and around Mysuru, from May 6 to 10.

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Even till the list of Congress candidates was released, Siddaramaiah hoped to contest from two seats, another being Kolar. However, he contested only from Varuna, represented by his son since 2018.

The winning margin of Dr Yathindra was 58,616 votes in 2018, against Thotadappa Basavaraju of the BJP (37,819 votes). The votes secured by Siddaramaiah now is 1,19,816, while Somanna polled 73,653 votes.

All the support Somanna got from the BJP did not work in both Varuna and Chamarajanagar segments. Somanna, who had asked for Chamarajanagar, was reluctant to contest in Varuna initially. But he gained confidence with the momentum of campaigning.

The contest of the JD(S) candidate and former BJP MLA of T Narsipur Dr Bharathi Shankar, an SC leader, and the migration of BSP State President M Krishnamurthy from Malavalli in the neighbouring Mandya district, did not dent the prospects of Siddaramaiah.

Siddaramaiah contested from Chamundeshwari and Badami in 2018, allowing Dr Yathindra to contest Varuna. Siddaramaiah lost to G T Devegowda of the JD(S) in Chamundeshwari, while he won Badami against BJP’s B Sriramulu.

Siddaramaiah, who has contested eight elections in Chamundeshwari won five of them — 1983, 1985, 1994, 2004 and 2006. He lost in 1989, 1999 and 2018.

The BJP also tried to cash in on the announcement of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, to create Varuna taluk, if voted to power. There was no such demand from anybody so far.