Siddaramaiah to kick off Nanjangud bypoll campaign tomorrow

Bengaluru: With veteran  leader, V. Srinivas Prasad quitting the Congress party and the legislative Assembly earlier this week,  a bypoll has become inevitable in Nanjangud, the constituency that he represented, in about  six months and Sunday  will see Chief minister Siddaramaiah virtually kicking off a  campaign for it at a rally in the town.

Although he is unlikely to directly attack Mr Prasad,  several second rung leaders are likely to do so while Mr Siddaramaiah himself sets the tone for the coming bypoll with the usual rhetoric.

With Mysuru being his home district , the party is likely to leave it to Mr Siddaramaiah to decide on a strategy to defeat Mr  Prasad, who has vowed to take down the Congress in the next assembly poll,   according to a senior leader.

“All the discussion on a candidate and the poll strategy is at present confined to  Mr Siddarmaiah’s inner circle," he revealed.

For now  Mr Siddaramaiah is playing his cards close to his chest as he reportedly wants Mr Prasad to make his move first.  His  team is allegedly hoping to  force the veteran leader into announcing his decision to contest as an independent or otherwise from Nanjangud sooner than later. "Leaders addressing Sunday's rally will try their best to provoke Mr Prasad into announcing his decision. While he has indicated that he  would like to contest as an independent, the CM's camp wants a more concrete announcement from him as if he chooses to contest as an independent the Congress might be on stronger ground than if he chooses to join a rival party and contest on its behalf,"  explained a party insider.