Siddaramaiah to fan: People have fooled me and it is enough

MYSURU: Former CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday chided voters in Chamundeshwari segment for defeating him and claimed the setback will not keep him down. The septuagenarian leader, who arrived in Mysuru on Tuesday, said he will stay and not run away. But he was cagey on meeting voters from Chamundeshwari segment even while holding a thanksgiving meet for supporters from Varuna segment.
Varuna segment, abutting the Chamundeshwari constituency, elected his son, Yathindra, to the state assembly. Thanking voters, Siddaramaiah said: “When I contested from Varuna, my victory margin was 30,000 votes. But you have elected Yathindra with over 58,000 votes. This is one of the highest in Karnataka.”

Siddaramaiah, who aspired to represent Chamundeshwari segment for one last time, made no bones that he was disappointed. He had lost to JD(S) leader G T Devegowda by over 33,000 votes. When he arrived at his home, there were not many of his supporters. When one of them felicitated him by extending a shawl and attempted to crown him with a Mysuru peta, the traditional headgear, Siddaramaiah said: “People have fooled me and it is enough.”

Hours later he attended a thanksgiving meeting at a choultry in Kuvempu Nagar where he wondered the reasons for the setback in Chamundeshwari. Some of the speakers at the meet told the leader of the Congress Legislative Party, that some of his supporters let him down. Siddaramaiah refused to respond, but said he would have won easily from Varuna had he contested. “You have never let me down,” he said. “When I contested in 2008, I became leader of opposition after my victory. In 2013, I became the CM after I was elected by Varuna segment.”

Siddaramaiah wondered why people let the party down when he walked the talk, ruled the state without corruption scandals and provided stable governance. But he took solace from Congress’ vote share — 38 per cent to BJP’s 36 per cent. “This shows we have popular support,” he said. “I’ve been in politics since 40 years and I’ve presented 13 budgets. As the CM I focused on poor and downtrodden. I thought Karnataka should be free from hunger and implemented Anna Bhagya scheme, which is extending free rice to four crore people. None of the BJP ruled states are doing it. But still people didn’t support Congress the way I had thought they would.”

He said Anna Bhagya scheme came from his experience as a child when people in his village cooked rice only during festivals or when some relatives had come down. “Now, rice is cooked by poor,” he stated. “I’m pained that people didn’t support me the way I’d worked for their welfare.”

He said voters in Chamundeshwari didn’t support him for minor reasons like he didn’t speak to them or that police stopped them when he was touring their villages. “But I’ve taken defeats in my stride and it will be no different,” he stated pointing out that tall leaders like B R Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi and D Deveraja Urs were defeated by the people.

He pledged his support for the development of Varuna segment with his son-MLA.