Karnataka CM race: Siddaramaiah is a mass leader who joined the grand old party in 2006 after being ousted from the JD (S) by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda. He is a man who has been rooted in "Janata Pariwar" for two and a half decades and is known for his outspoken anti-Congress stance.
As the 75-year-old Congress leader made his way to a packed press conference in Mysore on Saturday, his gait appeared to have been given a new lease on life.
"This (election result in Karnataka) will be a stepping stone for Congress' victory in 2024," Siddaramaiah said, losing no time in conveying the message that he has set his sights on what's to come.
"This is my last election. I will retire from electoral politics," the senior leader of the Congress had stated on numerous occasions.
Siddaramaiah, who has made no secret of his desire to become Chief Minister, foresaw what lay ahead.
Siddaramaiah, who was chief minister from 2013 to 2018, and Congress state unit president D K Shivakumar were the main contenders for the top post.
Who is Siddaramaiah?
Siddaramaiah, who was born on August 12, 1948, in the village of Siddaramanahundi, joined the grand old party in 2006 after being ousted from the JD (S) by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda. Siddaramaiah was first elected to the Assembly in 1983 from Chamundeshwari on the Lok Dal Party ticket. He has won this constituency five times and lost three times. The previous CM of Karnataka tasted a rout in the 1989 and 1999 assembly elections.
He was Chairman of the KPCC Publicity Committee of Elections in 2008. Discussing his schooling, Siddaramaiah moved on from Mysore College with a B.Sc. He later pursued a degree in law.
Siddaramaiah is popular with a large number of Congress lawmakers and has widespread support across the state. He has experience leading a government for a full term as Chief Minister (2013–2018).
He is a capable administrator with experience of having introduced 13 budgets and has clout among the AHINDA (Kannada abbreviation for minorities, backward classes, and Dalits).
He has a solid capacity to take on the BJP and JD(S), above all, PM Modi and his administration, on issues, and is viewed as near Rahul Gandhi, and evidently has his support.
Organisationally, Siddaramaiah is not particularly associated with the party. Under his leadership, he was unsuccessful in restoring the Congress government to power in 2018. Because he was previously a member of the JD (S), some of the old guards in Congress still view him as an outsider.
His acceptability, appeal, and ability to bring everyone along in order to lead a government with a decisive mandate and support Congress for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. In addition, Shivakumar's opponent, who is also interested in the position of CM, is the subject of IT, ED, and CBI cases.
When Siddaramaiah defeated Mallikarjun Kharge
At the Legislature Party meeting in 2013, he defeated M Mallikarjun Kharge, who is now the President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and was the Union Labour and Employment Minister at the time, to become chief minister.
After the split verdict in 2004, the Congress and JD(S) came together to form a coalition government. Siddaramaiah, who was in the JD(S) at the time, was made deputy chief minister, and Congress' N Dharam Singh was in charge of the government.
Siddaramaiah, who has a rustic appearance at times and is known to speak his mind, has never shied away from his desire to serve as chief minister. He has repeatedly emphasised his desire to do so, insisting that there is nothing wrong with pursuing the position.
As Finance Minister, Siddaramaiah, a mass leader, has the distinction of presenting as many as 13 state budgets.
According to some of his friends, he maintains his determination and has a personality that is somewhat "overpowering."
Siddaramaiah's debut & political journey
Siddaramaiah was elected to the Assembly from Chamundeshwari in 1983 on the Lok Dal Party ticket. He has won this constituency five times and lost three times.
He was the first Chairman of 'Kannada Kavalu Samiti', a watchdog committee that had the command to oversee the execution of Kannada as the official language shaped during Ramakrishna Hegde's central ministership.
Later, Siddaramaiah became Minister of Sericulture.
He was re-elected two years later in the midterm elections and served in the Hegde government as Minister for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services.
However, Siddaramaiah was defeated in the Assembly elections in 1989 and 1999. In 2008, he headed the KPCC Elections Publicity Committee.
Siddaramaiah received a B. Sc. degree from Mysore University.
Later, he studied law at the same institution and pursued it as a profession for some time.
Between 2013 and 2018, Siddaramaiah served a successful five-year term as the Congress government's Chief Minister.
Congress lost in 2018 despite its popularity due to populist "Bhagya" schemes.
Political observers and many Congress members claim that the Siddaramaiah government's decision to grant the dominant Lingayat community status as a "religious minority" in the 2018 Assembly elections cost the party votes.
Besides the fact that the Congress lost severely in the Lingayat-dominated constituencies, at that point, prominent leaders who were effectively engaged with the "separate Lingayat religion" development, suffered defeat.
Siddaramaiah, the incumbent chief minister at the time, lost the 2018 elections in Chamundeshwari, Mysuru, to JD(S) candidate G T Deve Gowda by 36,042 votes.
However, he defeated BJP candidate B Sriramulu by 1,696 votes in his victory in Badami, the other constituency from which he had previously run for office.
Siddaramaiah represented the neighboring Varuna constituency until he returned to his old Chamundeshwari constituency and vacated the seat for his son, Dr. Yatindra in the 2018 assembly elections.
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