Did Siddaramaiah read Delhi wrong on Hebbal?

Bengaluru: The astute politician he is, did Chief Minister Siddaramaiah miss the signals coming from the Congress top brass and invite a snub on the Hebbal seat selection when many of his candidates had been rejected earlier too?

Veteran Congressman C.K. Jaffer Sharief's grandson, Rehaman Sharief won the Hebbal race edging out Byrathi Suresh, the CM’s choice. This is not the first time it’s happening. In the Ballari Council polls, the CM’s nominee, Suryanarayana Reddy, was overlooked for K.C. Kondaiah. In Mandya, Siddu's nominee, K.R. Pete Krishna had to give way for L.R. Shivarame Gowda. In Kolar, veteran, R.L. Jalappa's son-in-law G.H. Nagaraj had the CM's backing but lost out to Anil Kumar, a K.H. Muniyappa acolyte.

Did Siddaramaiah jump the gun by publicly backing Byrathi? And more so when oldtimers like Madhusudan Mistry and Mallikarjun Kharge have the ear of Mrs Sonia Gandhi?