New Delhi: The Congress party on Saturday announced its first list of 124 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be contesting from Varuna, and state party president D K Shivakumar will be contesting from Kanakapura.
Earlier the Congress's first list of candidates was slated to be released on Wednesday but the party state president said that it was pushed back to a later date. Earlier there was much confusion about where Siddaramaiah would be contesting the assembly election this time. His indecision had led the party to postpone its list. The state Congress leadership believed that it would send a negative message if the former Chief Minister's name is not present in the first list.
Also read: Will win from Kolar come what may: Siddaramaiah
The Congress veteran had earlier asserted that he would be winning from Kolar even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were to campaign against him. In 2018, Siddaramaiah contested in the state election from two assembly seats, Chamundeshwari and Badami. He lost from Chamundeshwari seat by a huge margin against JD(S) candidate G T Deve Gowda. However, he was able to win in Badami with a slim victory margin.
The BJP which is in power in the state suffers from anti-incumbency and it is bent on using new strategies to counter Congress. Stakes are high for the saffron brigade as it is the only state in south India where it has managed to stay in power on its own. In 2018, the BJP has managed to wrest power from Congress by devising defections.
