Mysuru: The next Assembly polls are a full five years away and “we will see then” was how former chief minister Mr Siddaramaiah reacted when asked by the media in Mysuru if was planning to reconsider his decision not to contest polls again and whether he would be a contender for CM.
The veteran leader, whose statement in Hassan and later in Mysuru on Friday that he would like to be CM again, had created ripples in political circles, added, “In Hassan, since people demanded that I should become CM again, I said that we will see during the next elections.”
Siddarmaiah said people will remember the work taken up during his tenure and majority of Congress candidates will win ULB polls. “For Mysuru alone, our government had given '2,532 crore, which is the highest ever, many works are being taken up in the district. It was during our term that Mysuru got the tag of the cleanest city in India. We will win more than 40 seats in ULB elections in Mysuru alone.”
Though the Congress tally in Mysuru has dropped from eight to three in the Assembly polls, that will not affect ULB polls, he said. “BJP had deputed 33 people just to lie and create negative publicity during the assembly elections. So our development works took a back seat. Sometimes, lies mask the actual reality. But this time, it will not happen, people will remember our work and we will come to power in the Mysuru city corporation (MCC) on our own.”
On the allegation that the Congress view was not considered while passing an ordinance to help small vendors who take loans on a daily basis from local financiers, he said, “It was the decision of the coalition government. Waiving loans is in our CMP.”
Mr Siddaramaiah demanded that the Centre announce a special package of Rs 1,000 crore soon for Kodagu which has suffered from such a big disaster. The process of assessment of losses is underway, he said. On Defence Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman’s spat with Kodagu in-charge minister Sa Ra Mahesh, he said, “It was too much. It was not expected of a Union minister.”
