Ex-CM ’s segment talk upsets aides in Badami

Hubballi: Badami in Bagalkote district shot to limelight when former CM Siddaramaiah filed his nomination to contest the 2018 assembly election and emerged victorious by defeating BJP’s Sriramulu in a close fight.
But Siddaramaiah has stunned everyone in Badami by declaring that he will file his nomination from Kolar for the next assembly election.
His supporters and locals claim Badami saw a lot of development works under Siddaramaiah. Officials did not delay any work and maintained quality fearing facing Siddaramaiah’s wrath they said.
Former minister BB Chimmankatti, who had given up his seat at Badami so that Siddaramaiah could contest in 2018, was visibly upset after the former CM said he would contest from elsewhere for the next election. He wants to the Congress ticket to his son and Siddaramaiah’s announcement has cleared the decks for it but getting support from the former CM’s supporters will be tough, said a Congress functionary close to Siddaramaiah.
Sensing that Siddaramaiah will not contest from Badami, his supporters tried their best to convince him to contest again from the seat for the past few months. They are now disappointed after Siddaramaiah made it clear that he would contest from Kolar.
“Siddaramaiah was not fully confident of winning from Badami again in 2023 following factional politics and tough competition from BJP. In 2018, Siddaramaiah managed to win by a margin of just 1,696 votes. He had expected to win by a margin of 15,000 to 16,000 votes. It has shaken his confidence to contest from Badami in 2023, and he doesn’t want to take a chance now,” said a senior functionary close to Chimmankatti.
Former MLA and Bagalkot District Congress president SG Nanjayyanmath said Siddaramaiah implemented developmental works worth Rs Rs 3,300 to 3,400 crore including drinking water project to bring Krishna water to Badami, development of roads, bus-shelters, Yatri Nivas, filling of lakes, and other works in Badami.
“Siddaramaiah said Badami is too far from Bengaluru, and he is not able to give enough time to his constituency’s people. So, he is planning to contest from Kolar,” he said.
“We have requested him to contest from Badami, but he seems to be firm on his decision. We have requested him to suggest a suitable candidate to be fielded from Badami. We will work honestly to ensure the candidate’s victory,” he said.