With your blessings, I'll again become chief minister of Kanataka: Siddaramaiah

Hassan: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday openly expressed his desire for the top job in the state.

Addressing a public meeting at Hassan, Siddaramaiah said "with the blessings of the people" of Karnataka, he could once again take over as the Chief Minister of the state.

"I might have lost the last elections but with your blessings, I will once again become the Chief Minister. Opposition joined hands to prevent me from becoming the chief minister for the second consecutive term," said Siddaramaiah, adding that caste and money were seeping into politics.

"I thought people will bless me once again and make me the chief minister. Unfortunately, I lost, but this is not the end. In politics winning and losing are common," he asserted.

Siddaramaiah's latest statement is seen as a U-turn from his earlier stand during the assembly polls in May, when he said, "This will be my last election."

Also Read: 2018 will be my last assembly election, says Siddaramaiah; said same in 2013

Siddaramaiah currently holds the post of Congress legislative party leader and heads the Congress-Janata Dal (United) coalition coordination committee.

He had contested from two constituencies in the May 12 state elections and won from Badami but lost from his home turf Chamundeshwari in Mysuru.

After days of high-octane political drama and a floor test in the state assembly for the BJP to prove majority, the power to form the government in the state was vested upon the Congress-JD(S) coalition with HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister.

However, reports have surfaced of alleged friction between the two parties of the ruling coalition, especially after the incumbent Chief Minister said he was swallowing the pain of heading a coalition government.