Karnataka polls: Siddaramaiah wins from Varuna, becomes MLA for 9th time
BENGALURU: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah scored a hat-trick in Varuna winning the 2023 election after he trounced Minister for Housing V. Somanna of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Earlier, Siddaramaiah had won the 2008 and 2013 election from Varuna.
His earlier victories were in 1983, 1985, 1994, 2004 and 2006 from Chamundeshwari Assembly seat in Mysuru. He lost 1989, 1999 and 2018 from Chamundeshwari seat. Siddaramaiah has stated that 2023 would be his last electoral contest.
Siddaramanahundi village is the native place of Siddaramaiah which falls under Varuna seat in Mysuru district. Varuna is the newly created Assembly seat which came into existence after the delimitation of Assembly seats.
Siddaramaiah in the 2018 election contested from dual seats- Chamundeshwari Assembly seat and Badami seat in north Karnataka and returned to to Varuna seat as BJP fielded Somanna and ex-MLA Dr Bharathi Shankar was fielded by the Janata Dal Secular nominee.
In its first election in Varuna held in 2008, Siddaramaiah defeated his nearest rival Revannasiddaiah by a margin of about 19,000 votes. While Congress nominee Siddaramaiah polled 71, 908 votes and BJP’s Revannasiddaiah got 53, 071 votes. In the next election, he defeated BJP’s Kapu Siddalinga Swamy with a victory margin of 29,641 votes. Siddaramaiah secured 84,385 votes and Siddalinga Swamy polled 54, 744 votes.
After Siddaramaiah shifted to Chamundeshwari in 2018, the seat was represented by Dr Yathindra, son of Siddaramaiah and he won the seat by defeating his nearest rival with a margin of 58, 616 votes. Yathindra got 96, 435 votes and BJP’s Basavaraju secured 37,819 votes.
During the campaign, Siddaramaiah termed Somanna as a ‘sacrificial lamb’ and an ‘outsider’ to the seat while Somanna accused Siddaramaiah of lack of development of the Varuna seat. Union Home Minister Amit Shah who conducted a roadshow played caste card against Siddaramaiah.
